The Perfect Immortal
by SSB Vegito
Summary: Touta, the only survivor of UQ Holder after Ialda's attack, goes back in time for a second chance. Only this time, he is ready. Overpowered/Smarter/Grey Touta! No bashing! Possible lemons but will provide a start and an end before and after lemons IF i choose to add them.
1. Chapter 1

A swirling matrix or color… this was not Kirie's usual time travel. Normally, when she dies, she and whoever she is in physical contact with get sent back to her last save point instantly. This…this was different.

No sooner had I finished that thought I, Touta Konoe, the only being capable of standing against my grandpa and his father, was back on solid ground. I let myself relax for half a second before crouching into a defensive pose and taking in my surroundings. I could see nothing out of the ordinary. I had landed in a plain, flatland as far as the vampire eye could see. Massive trees shot out of the ground and loomed over me, the gentle breeze refreshing, and the grass bending under its caress. I looked at my feet and my immediate vicinity, looking for a certain something. There was nothing within a ten-foot radius of me. If I still had tears left in me, I would have cried. Thankfully, there were none left. I didn't have time to think on this. I needed to find out when I landed.

Using continuous instant movement, flash-stepping or shunpo as I came to call it, I shot off in an unknown direction, hoping to find some kind of hint as to the time period I was in, hoping that the prototype didn't send me too far back. Then again, even if it did, I still had a way to pass the time. After about five minutes of constant shunpo, I came to a road. Not breaking stride, I instantly played a game of eeny meeny miny moe on which way to go, it ended up with me deciding to turn right. I grasped the air around me with my outstretched foot, made a foothold out of air, and used it to change my direction so I was still hidden by the trees on the side of the highway as it appeared to be, out of view from the human eye in case any drivers showed up. I followed the road for another five minutes and came into a town. I broke out of shunpo and started walking at a human pace.

 _I need to find a newspaper._ I thought as I scanned my surroundings. I walked up to this brunette, skinny woman who seemed to be in her mid to lower twenties. "Excuse me," I asked her politely, "I am a little new to town so I was wondering if you could direct me to the nearest post office or gas station?"

She turned around to see who was talking to her and smiled. "Aw, you are so cute. There is actually a gas station on your left if you keep going straight. Tell me, why do you need to go the gas station?"

I used the excuse I had already thought of, even though it pained me to say it. "My mom wants the newspaper so she sent me to get it." I faked a smile back. Before she could try to keep me there talking, I started jogging in the direction she indicated. Sure enough, just as she said, there was a shell station up ahead. Once I got there, I quickly opened the door and found a stack of newspapers just as I walked in. I reached over and grabbed a New York Inquirer. The date on it was July 27 of 2084.

 _The same night my parents died…_ I shook my head. Despite the overwhelming desire to rescue them, I didn't know how it would change the timeline.

 _"Whatever you do Touta,"_ Grandpa had said, " _Don't change the timeline if you don't need to! Only do what you need to to make the fight against me easier! Now hurry! I can't hold her off much longer!"_

Those were his words before he sent me back to this…alternate timeline he called it. I put the newspaper down and exited the store, deep in thought.

I needed to become stronger. That was the one sole purpose of me coming back. Everyone else was erased, and I had gotten lucky that Negi had broken free from his control, even if he only broke it for one second. I needed the strength to overpower the Thousand Master and the Magister of Magic. It would have been great if the time machine Negi used on me sent me back to the era of the Thousand Master. This way, I could have been his student up until he had to go to Mars. Even better, I could have been Kitty's student and been under both of their tutelages for a few hundred years.

 _Kitty…_

No! Don't think about it! I shook my head to get that hellish image out of my head. Back to the time machine matter, even going back to Negi's time would have been more beneficial than being in this time. I can't go to Evangeline since the me of this timeline will be there and I can't reveal myself to either of them yet. Both of my ancestors are under the control of the Eternal Empathetic, and if I go to UQ Holder what would even happen? Would they let me in if I used an alias? But what about when this timeline's me goes there? They would instantly come to me for answers and in a not so kind fashion.

I reached into the inside of the black and white vest that I snatched out a nearby store not five minutes ago and pulled out the phone that was inside.

 _Looks like I have no choice but to go_ there. _Maybe she can help me out if I explain my situation._ I opened up the flip-phone and saw that there was only 1 button. I pushed it and brought it to my ear.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

On the fourth ring I heard the person on the other side answer, but they didn't say anything.

"My name is Touta Konoe." I started. "My situation is dire and I am in need of assistance. I humbly request an audience with you. I am in July 27, 2084…hey mister what is the name of this town?" I quickly asked a nearby police officer. He looked at me for a little bit but decided to answer my question.

"It is Austin." I gave him a blank stare. "Austin, Texas…? This ringing any bells for you kid?"

 _At least send me to a place nearby! Baka-Negi!_

"Okay," I spoke into the phone. "It is July 27, 2084, I am in Austin Texas, and it is 4:57 in the afternoon. I will explain everything once you bring me to you." Still nothing. I sighed. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to say this because it is embarrassing as hell but it looks like this is the only chance I have of her picking me up. "Um...There are two things immortals give to mortals. Either fear and chaos…or beauty. There have been some mortals giving me a hard time and they don't fear me. T-there is a-also an immortal who doesn't think I am beautiful. I want to become the perfect immortal. One that spreads fear to those that dare oppose me… a-and beauty to those who follow him."

The silence continued. Then the voice spoke.

"If your forearm is severed how long should it take to regenerate?"

"0.1 seconds." There was a pause before the voice spoke again.

"And if your entire torso is blown into pieces?"

"0.5 seconds with flair and dramatic effects." I said, remembering what I was taught.

Another pause.

"Who do you love and who is giving you trouble?"

"The one I love is Kitty. The ones giving me trouble…are Negi and Nagi." Not even an instant later, an arm appeared over my head, grabbed my entire top half, and pulled me into the black portal from which the arm spawned.

* * *

I was back. Back in the only place where I could train as much as I wanted until I was ready. The only problem was convincing the person before me to let me train here.

"You have a lot of explaining to do Touta Konoe." Said the immortal standing before me, confusion and anger written all over her face.

"Where do you want me to start… Dana Ananga Jagannatha?" I asked the noble in front of me, dressed in her usual attire.

"You can start by telling me why you came from the future to the past for starters. And before you even ask me how I know that, let me remind you that I am the Witch of the Void. I am connected to everything, meaning I am connected to all of time. The moment you said you were Touta Konoe I looked at time and found that **exact** being in the **same** time period in **two** different places. One with my former disciple, who you know as Kitty, and then you. So, when I tried to look into your time, I found nothing. Do you know what it means when the Witch of the Void looks at time and doesn't see anything? That means there is no time to see, meaning that time had ended a few decillion years early!"

Now… I knew that the situation was dire…but it being this dire! What happened after I left that time line?

"Well, it all started when an immortal hunter used me and my friends to try to kill Evangeline…" I decided to tell her my entire life story, only stopping after I had explained the erasure of UQ holder.

"…Negi had that kind of weapon?" Dana muttered, taking a few steps back, not believing what she was just told.

"It's the truth master. Thankfully, my grandfather managed to break free from her control for a single second, using instantaneous movement to explain what I had to do then he sent me back using a prototype time machine based off of the one they used to bring my grandma back in time and Kirie's power." She was grasping her head in disbelief and confusion.

"Using instantaneous movement to speak at instant speed…only Negi would have been able to pull off something like that. And for you to be able to understand instant speech is just ridiculous." She walked away from me and started circling the area, staying near what I believed was the wall.

I couldn't tell where I was, only that everything was dark. The only thing I could see was Dana. Must be a special room to keep people that Dana believes could be dangerous. Honestly, I couldn't blame her since my original timeline doesn't exist anymore. I was still trying to get over that shock myself!

"And what would you like for me to do for you?" Dana asked, expecting rather than asking.

"Just like I told you. I spent 8 months training under year in my timeline. This time, I want to stay for at the very least twenty years. A century if that is how long it takes. I want your help making me the strongest immortal in existence!"

There was a pause before she spoke again. "You say this knowing that we don't have that long. Putting the fact that this timeline's counterpart of you will be here in a decade, give or take a few years, to the side, there is still the fact that time will end if we don't stop Negi and Nagi in that same amount of time, give or take a few years. How do you plan on staying here for that long when we don't have that long?"

"I was told that since you were the Witch of Time, and not only you, but this building is linked across all of time, I figured we could go back millions of years into the past and train! This way, no one will know of our existence and we can train to our hearts content!"

"No." Instant denial.

"Wh-what? Why!?" I asked.

"You are still so young and ignorant." She sighed. "Then again, that is one of the things that makes you…delectable." I tried not to shiver at that comment and let her continue. "The only problem is that we are going back in time in the first place. If we go that far back then surely what we do there will have repercussions on today's society. Kill a certain dinosaur or make a certain volcano explode and we could end up with bugs ruling the world or perhaps erasing the very concept of immortality from existence, making it so immortals like us would not exist and we would live mortal lives."

"Then we would die in a little under a century and not being able to meet Kitty and the rest of UQ Holder." I realized.

"Among other things, yes. The farther we go back in time, the harsher the consequences will become. Not even I know what would happen if we did that. Going back in time is not an option." She stated with finality.

I couldn't help but lower my head in shock and dismay. _Was my coming back in time pointless? I can't reach my grandparents level in under a decade! Even if I did train for that long and by some miracle made it to Kitty's level, even she couldn't do anything against Negi so what would I be able to do?_

Just as I was about to give up, Dana said, "Don't give up yet kid." I looked back up at my master, seeing her with a wide grin. "Just because we can't go back in time, doesn't mean we can't train for as long as we like."

"…what do you mean?" I asked hesitantly, not knowing what she was planning. I had the same feeling back when she killed us hundreds of times a day to speed up our regeneration time. She raised her hands from her hips and clapped twice. Instantly, the dark room came to life with light. Yelling, I quickly raised my hands to cover my eyes from the blinding light. It took me about one second for my eyes to adjust to the new lighting. When I removed my hand, and looked around me I saw…nothing. Just a wide expanse of nothing. Nothing as far as the eye could see.

"What is this place?" I asked. Dana walked up to me and explained.

"A long, long time ago, my sister and I made this room for us to fight in. My sister's name is Anda, another Witch of the Void." I was nodding as she was explaining what this room was, letting her know I was following along. When she said that however, I couldn't help but blink a few times and take a mental step back.

"Wait…there are two Witches?"

"Correct." She could see that I didn't believe her. I asked her how there could be two Void Witches. "Do you know what a void is?"

"Isn't a void something like a space."

"Correct. There are two different concepts that a void is subject to."

"Concepts?" I asked, feeling dumb as rocks right now.

She smiled. "Take the void called Outer Space for example. What two concepts is it subject to?" After five minutes of me trying to guess and not getting any of them right she gave me the correct answer to her question. "The answer is time and space. Just as mortals and immortals alike perceive time, so does Outer Space. Just because nothing is there doesn't mean it is not subject to time. The same principle applies to space. Space is all around us; it is the whole reason why Outer Space is called Outer Space. On an unrelated note, don't even try to get me started why we don't call everything that is not Outer Space, Inner Space." Funny, I was just about to ask her that too.

"So, what does this have to do with being a void witch?"

"Well, for each concept that applies to a void there is a witch. Seeing how the entire universe is a void and time and space applies to voids…"

"Wait a minute…" I said, the gears in my head spinning like crazy. "A witch for each concept that applies to a void…space and time influence voids…so that means there are two witches…one for time… that is you…and…a witch for space! The Witch of Space!?"

"Good work Touta. I wasn't sure if you would get that. Indeed, that is my sister, Nada Agantha Jagannatha. Using the powers of time and space, we made a void in each of our strongholds. Here, there is a time dilation that bends to my will. To put it simply, we can train to our hearts intent and we can come out in just the nick of time to come out and have you take your other self's place."

"That sounds amazing! Thanks Dana!" I ran up to her and tried to give her a hug but her finger piercing my chest stopped me dead in my tracks, quite literally. It took me about a minute to regenerate my chest and sit up from the floor.

"What was that for!?" I yelled at her.

"An immortal does not thank someone when they have not done anything to be thanked for." She said quite sternly. Then she soften up and gave me a small grin. "Get strong enough to beat Negi and Nagi and then you can thank me."

"Y-yes master!" I exclaimed. Then I realized something. "Wait, what do you mean 'take my other self's place?" I asked, still very eager to start training but a little worried by what she meant.

"I'll tell you the plan once we get you in tip top shape. Once this century is over, you will be in your best shape possible! Now before we begin, is there anything else you want to ask of me before we get started?"

"Actually yes." I told her, having a few ideas. "There is sword at UQ Holder headquarters that can change its weight by turning a dial on the hilt. I used that sword in my other timeline. I want that sword to make my training a lot more beneficial."

"Sounds like an interesting weapon. How much weight can you wield the sword at?"

"There have been a few times when I swung it when it was five hundred thousand times its own base weight. Oh, and there was a time when I swung it at one tenth its weight." I told her. I could see her lick her lips in…is that anticipation.

"Yes, if you can handle that sword like a master swordsman than that does sound like a useful tool to have, in both training and fighting. Expertly swinging a sword that weighs several tons like its nothing certainly sounds promising. I can most certainly grab that for you, especially if Kitty is the one in charge of that organization. Then I can just return it to a time a few seconds past when I first grabbed it, making them none the wiser. Anything else?"

"Just one other thing. Back in my timeline I couldn't use magic. That is because of the White of Venus and the Black of Mars magic being mixed together in my system correct?"

"That is correct."

"So, if I were to get better control of my spiritual energy and blood and accelerate it to the point when I can separate them…would I be able to use magic? Once they are not mixed anymore?" Judging by the look on her face, she honestly did not know. The whole reason I asked is because my Negi is able to use magic just like his father, Nagi. Since I am his clone, I should be able to use magic as well. I already got a small hold on **Thunder in Heaven: Great Vigor.** I should be able to use other magic besides that one. Hopefully, the only hurdles I need to overcome are my limited knowledge of magic, and the hula hoops I rely on.

"You just thought of the differences between yourself and Negi didn't you?" Dana asked, suddenly very serious. This made me hesitate, unable to respond since what she just said was true. I could only look up at her in shock. "The level you are at in comparison to your grandfather is worlds apart."

"Wha..?" I said, shocked and frustrated. What did she know about Negi? He didn't fight her ever… did he? "I-I already know that! I went toe to toe with him! I know how strong he is! I know he is not someone who can be looked down on!"

"Fool. Anyone standing in his presence _without_ Ialda giving him more power would know that he is not someone to be messed with." I ground my teeth in frustration, knowing she was right. Back when he first showed himself, the entire area went silent from his mere aura. Then, with a single sneeze, the clothes of everyone in the area were destroyed. But I do remember someone saying that whenever he sneezed his magic goes out of control.

"It will take more than magic to defeat Negi. He can absorb any spell that directly affects him and use to give himself more power."

"Then…then what am I supposed to do!?" I yelled at her, beginning to lose hope. "I have to defeat my grandfather in order to save everyone I care about. I need more power in order to do that!" I would have said more, but Dana suddenly thrust her finger at me, successfully stabbing me in the chest and shutting me up.

"While you are correct in saying that you need power in order to fight him, what you need us not just power." She drew her finger out of me, allowing me to regenerate as I gasped in pain. "Your regeneration speed, your combat skills, your physical capabilities, your magic abilities, your battle tactics…they all need improvement."

"What?" I asked, feeling hurt that she was able to tell me all of that as if they were just a few that she listed off the top of her head.

"Back to your question, I won't tell you you can't use other magic, but as you are right now it will take a few years of training for you to outgrow those hoops and control your magic energy freely, not to mention it will take quite a while for you to come close to reach a level that will make you a match for Fate, let alone Negi and Nagi."

Trying to take in all of what Dana was saying, I knew she was right. Why couldn't I see it before? Before any of this, I was just trying to get revenge on Fate. That alone was a very high die to cast. But before I even reached his level, the responsibility of defeating Ialda fell onto my shoulders. All of a sudden, I felt a revelation.

 _Ialda!_

That was the person I needed to defeat! It wasn't about getting revenge on Fate, it wasn't about making Evangeline notice me, it wasn't even about beating my ancestors! In order for any of that to happen, Ialda had to go. Once I drive Ialda out of their minds and beat her into submission, then I can focus on the other stuff.

Seeing me with a huge grin on my face, Nada grinned as well. "I see you managed to figure it out." She told me.

"Yeah, Negi is not who I need to beat. Not even Nagi. It is Ialda."

Nada grinned even wider and clapped. "Well, now that you know who your true enemy is, I think I can begin training you. But be warned…," she stopped smiling and she donned a blackish aura. Her eyes looked like they were made of fire, her hair seemed to defy gravity as it rose and billowed in the wind her aura produced, her lips turned down in a scowl that would make all beings in creation hesitate to engage her. Honestly, I rather go back and fight Negi, Nagi, and the Mage of the Beginning at once than fight Dana as she is now. "…it will take more than a decade of my teachings in order for you to overcome the Life-Maker. We are going to be training non-stop, with no sleep, no breaks, for the next one thousand years in this room. I will not allow you to rest. Your mind will be destroyed thousands of times, your body millions, and your beliefs billions of times. But fear not, I will set the time dilation so that only two years will pass outside of this room. When I am done with you, you will bear all of your teachings with either pride or remorse. You will either be proud that you managed to remain in control of your sanity while managing to endure the most painful training you will ever face in all of time or you will be broken to the point where you define everything around you as pointless."

…Dana was serious. I couldn't help but take a few steps back as she began to stomp towards me. Never before, have I felt such an enormous pressure on me, not even when I fought my grandfather. And Dana still acknowledges Negi as being stronger. If she didn't she would be as serious as she was.

Then, in the presence of the full power of the Witch of the Void, I began to laugh. I didn't know how it was possible for me to laugh in this insane scenario, but I was. This seemed to make Dana hesitate as she waited for me to calm down.

When I finally finished, I was bent over myself, grasping my knees to keep myself from falling. "I…I see. So, when I fought you, you were holding back the majority of your power, weren't you grandpa?" I began to chuckle at the hopeless situation I brought upon myself. Well, if I was going to go insane, might as well loose it to save the solar system!

"Come at me Diana!" I challenged her in a sudden fit of courage, getting into a defensive stance. "I will stay here for the next one thousand years if I must! I will take everything you have to offer! All of your teachings! All of your power! All of your techniques! Everything! I expect you to teach me everything you know about my grandfather and my great grandfather! Their magic! Their knowledge! Their strengths and weaknesses! I want you to make me into the perfect copy! I WANT YOU TO MAKE ME SO PERFECT THAT NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CLONE AND THE ORIGINAL!"

"Yes, Touta!" Dana screeched, her aura getting stronger, the pressure cracking the ground as far as this space expanded, her face turning red. "How beautiful you are! Get greedier, ask for more, take advantage of me! That is what being an immortal is all about! As long as you promise to not become an immortal with nothing but strength, I will give you everything you desire! After all, an immortal with only strength is an ugly thing!"

"And an immortal who isn't strong is just as ugly isn't it!" I roared in eagerness, sensing the battle that was about to begin: the eon of hell that awaited me.

"Yes! YES! You understand! That means there is only two paths left to you now!" She brought one leg forward, smashing the ground beneath her and used that force to throw herself at me with all her might. I mimicked her action with as much ferocity as I could.

"Either become an immortal that brings their enemies to their knees with awe at your sheer beauty!"

"Or become an immortal that makes their enemies fall to their knees in terror at the being they dared to stand against!"

" **TOUTA!"**

 **"DANA!"**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _Last Time_

 _"Yes! YES! You understand! That means there is only two paths left to you now!" She brought one leg forward, smashing the ground beneath her and used that force to throw herself at me with all her might. I mimicked her action with as much ferocity as I could._

 _"Either become an immortal that brings their enemies to their knees with awe at your sheer beauty!"_

 _"Or become an immortal that makes their enemies fall to their knees in terror at the being they dared to stand against!"_

 _"_ _ **TOUTA!"**_

 ** _"DANA!"_**

* * *

(Touta POV)

There was no way to describe the way I have been treated the last one thousand years with words alone. The only thing I can say is that I really, _really_ want to go to hell for some rest and relaxation. Dana held true to her word. I had no rest and no sleep in the entire time I was training.

Whenever I got hungry I was denied food; only when the hunger began to hinder my training was when Dana would conjure something for me to eat. I was not expected to like what she gave me. Even the food I was given was considered a part of training. It would always be some sort of grey or black slob that reeked of squid. Dana said described the hellish abomination she calls food a culmination of all of the nutrients I would need to continue fighting. Worst of all, it didn't even have a name! I gave it one as soon as I tasted it though: shit!

We trained and trained and trained. We trained as I ate and we trained as we talked. We trained as we relieved ourselves and we trained as I learned magic. Not once did we ever stop our fight in the last thousand years. My regeneration was forced to go into overdrive as it was required to heal all of the wounds my body took, as well as repair the damage my muscles took as the training progressed. Basically, whilst healing myself, my regeneration ability was forced to act as the 'rest' required by my muscles in order to grow and tighten. As a result, my muscles were continuously changing as I fought, leaving me with no choice but to adapt whenever the situation demanded it. That probably would not have happened as much as it did if it wasn't for all that nutritious…slop that was forced on me in order to keep the hunger away and my body functioning at a vampire's level.

Not only was I not allowed rest and had to eat while fighting, I was verbally taught magic whilst trying to keep Dana from decapitating me. I died about once every minute in the first few decades. Then, the rate became once every week or so after a few centuries. According to her, teaching me magic in the middle of combat was to train each and every muscle in my body to act independently, without my having to think about it.

My body was not allowed to get taller or age since I am an immortal stuck in a ten-year-old's body. However, it did change. I was now very muscular for my height, not enough to be considered a body builder by a long shot; thank god; but buff enough for it to tell if I ever wore tight enough clothing. My entire body was toned to the point where even I considered myself to be chiseled out of stone and I am the most ignorant person alive...or was. In addition, Dana taught me a similar spell to the one Yukihime uses to change into her adult form. However, the spell Dana taught me was more complex than Kitty's version; whereas she just uses it as a disguise, my version gives me all of the strength I would have in my prime as well as giving me an adult form. The majority of the time was spent training this new form of mine and understand how to maneuver my original form as well as my adult one, on top of how to control my energy in both of them. Can't afford to kill or injure someone if I can help it after all.

I was not the only one who changed, however. Dana, as…heavy…as she was, was now as tall and as skinny as I was. Hell, she even had the similar build I did, the only difference was that she didn't have the six-pack I did and had a more hourglass figure. After a few centuries of training me, I got to a point where I started to come up with tricks to beat her, such as using her previously huge body to hide myself, taking advantage of the blind spots it provided. In order to stop that, she began to retrain herself, resulting in my ass once again being handed to me as well as granting the Time Witch a smaller, more compact, and skinner version of her previous self. All of her physical and magical capabilities also received a boost as a bonus.

After nine hundred and ninty-nine years of continuous fighting did we finally stop. The both of us took the remaining year to allow our bodies to rest and adjust. I slept for about seven months straight whilst Dana slept for eight. The last few months were spent doing some lightweight exercises to keep our bodies in shape. A few hundred pushups here, a few hundred mile run, nothing major. Dana had gotten quite accustomed to training so much she decided not to let herself go back to her previous self and was currently sitting beside me, meditating.

I was floating about ten feet off the ground, balancing the black and white magics within me and enjoying the silence the separated space offered. Today…today is the day I go out into the real world once more. I was both overjoyed and reluctant to leave this place. This void had so many memories of the hard times I endured. I was glad I wouldn't have to go through it again... but I also began to miss it, holding back the urge to ask Dana for one more fight.

"…Dana?" I spoke for the first time in a week, glancing over at her now slim figure.

"Child…no…Touta. You have no reason to hesitate." She began. "You have fought the equivalent of a Demon Lord for an eon and have managed to keep your wits about you for that entire span of time. I have long since had nothing left to teach you." She looked over at me a smiled. "You are ready."

That was the only thing I needed to hear. I uncrossed my legs and floated down, the Void Witch doing the same. "You owe it to me to save creation. I won't allow you to lose to any mortal or immortal other than me." She walked over to me and placed a hand on my cheek, the same hand that killed me 1,760, 582,195, 453 times. I couldn't help letting my face rub against her hand. "Come back to me alive, with everyone else in tow behind you." She got on her tip toes and whispered in my ear. "I expect to see an immortal such as yourself with, at the very least, one hundred women at your beck and call."

"Pfft. One hundred?" I pushed her hand away with a large smile, scoffing. "Really?"

"I'm just saying not to tie yourself down to just a few. We live for so long and we get bored quite easily. Just looking out for ya." She winked. I reached out and patted her head, something she had come to enjoy over the centuries.

"I'm heading out, Dana." I turned around so see a portal opening, the other side full of trees and wildlife. I began to walk towards it. Then Dana said something unexpected.

"Hey." I turned back around at her, seeing her with a face of uncertainty. I have never seen that face even once in our eon of training. "You realize that is hell you are walking into?"

I instantly knew what she meant. She had come to care for me after all. And I her. There was no doubt in my mind. I knew what she was saying. She was not asking about the world. She was not asking about what may come. She simply wanted to know. 'Is she worth it?'

"You know," I began, turning to face the portal again, "I have learned a lot of things in my time here, and most of them I will probably forget in a few millennia. But this, this is the one thing I will never forget." I saw trees begin to billow. I watched the birds chirping and see flowers bending under the weight of the breeze. "At first, it was just admiration…but…it was admiration built of a dream. A dream that her hell could be undone. The unfulfilled dream of a woman who was incapable of seeing the blue sky. No matter how hard she tried…and it cost her everything." I saw the suns rise and the moons fall, the stars glistening as bright as the green meadow was beautiful. Then I saw her face as it was centuries ago, or should I say an eon and centuries ago? Ice cold, lost, wondering when something would change, the piles of bodies that lay at her feet.

"Is that the life you want? A hollow life of second best?"

I answered without hesitation. "Yeah, I do. Even if it is a life dripping with being nothing but second best," I looked down at my hand and clenched it with determination, a flame burning bright in my fist for just a few seconds, "I will do my best…to make her see the blue sky." I looked back into the door to the real world, the beautiful scenery replaced by flashing images of dead bodies, burning buildings, and _them_ standing atop it all. "And the only way that is going to happen…" I stretched my arm out, summoning an orange energy blade, the Sword of Conviction, to my side. "…is to save him. Only then will her clock begin to tick again." That was the only belief I held up over all others. This, I was going to see through to the end, no matter the cost.

"You really are…one hell of a man." I heard her sigh, not admitting she was moved by my speech. "Come back safe." She said, using the word 'back' instead of 'home', knowing full well I didn't have a home left to come back to.

I smiled…then dashed through the portal before me, setting off on my journey.

 _Wait for me Kitty._ I thought. _I am coming for you._

 **(End OST)**

* * *

When I landed, I took a look at my surroundings. I was in a woodsy area with a bit a grassland. They sky was as blue as a clean lake and the clouds were like cotton floating in the air. Before I could take in any more details, a voice reached my ears all of a sudden. There was also multiple presences nearby, all of which were quite weak. They felt like they were in the closest tree to me. Curious, I took cover under said tree, careful to use enough speed to be unnoticed but not enough to make any kind of gust.

"Aah, I know. You mean the immortal jellyfish, right? That's nice…I would love being a jellyfish." I looked up to see that the sources of energy I felt were only kids hanging out in this tree. Thankfully, I didn't draw any attention to myself just yet. All I needed to do was either sneak away or wait them out and listen to their conversation. I decided to sneak away as it was much quicker and there was stuff that I wanted to do before going to UQ Holder, the main one being to find the location of Kitty and keep an eye on her. Just as I was about to shunpo away, a small bit a familiarity entered my mind.

 _Where do I recognize this scenery? And why does this immortal jellyfish sound familiar?_ Going against my better judgement, I decided to stay and listen to the kids' conversation.

"That is different!" Said a different kid this time. "Their lifespan may be unlimited but they still die like normal."

 _Are these kids immortals? If they are, what type of immortality are they talking about? Unlimited life but can still be killed? Can't say I've met anyone with that kind of immortality before._ I could hear the leaves shaking as the kids shifted their weight.

"Wha…," another kid spoke, "totally got worked up over nothing?"

"Oh, I just remembered something!" yet another kid exclaimed. "Tardigrades are known for their invincibility. They can live for up to one hundred and twenty years without eating anything and can even survive in outer space." I could hear the other kids getting psyched over this new type of immortality. It was honestly starting to sound quite interesting to me as well. "Oh," he continued, "but if you step on it, it dies."

 _THEN WHAT IS THE POINT?_ I wanted to shout, biting my tongue to stop the temptation to do just that. The other children also expressed their disappointment through sighing and complaining.

All of a sudden, I felt a presence nearby. I instantly looked over in its general direction. _What? A presence so close by? How!? Even if they were hiding it, I should have been able to sense it! Dana said no one would be able to sneak up on me except for a few select individuals!_

"Oh, she is here." One of the treetop youngsters told the others. They all began to giggle in a very…non-boyish manner that started to creep me out a little. They must have saw her since they were higher up and had a better vantage point. I was currently hiding behind a tree and this person who ducked under my radar was currently climbing up the closest hill so I couldn't see their face yet.

When I finally could, my heart stopped.

The person who was coming up the hill was, as well as being one of the very few individuals I would have a hard time detecting, a girl with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a beige, button up shirt and a black skirt with matching leggings and high heels; the very definition of strict business attire.

 _Well...mission number one is cleared._

It was Kitty. No, Yukihime in that getup.

"Of course it is her," I sighed quietly as I scratched my head. Yeah, she is indeed one of the very few people who can make it under my radar. Then again, if she wasn't trying I would have sensed her in no time. Guess she has to try since who knows how many immortal hunters have been on her tail over the course of her lifetime.

"All right," I heard one of the kids say. When I listened to this guy speak, I began to feel like I have heard that voice before today. "We might win if all five of us attack simultaneously. Today marks that demon teacher's final day for sure!"

 _Wait a minute,_ I squinted my eyes in confusion. Then I realized what they were planning. _Are they really going to jump their teacher!? I will cut each of you down before you even get the chance!_

Just as I was about to jump out of my hiding place and put myself between the woman and the children, I took a quick glance at the kids currently jumping out of the tree. I saw five faces of young boys. Four of their faces I didn't know. One, however, I recognized instantly.

The face I was looking at…was mine. Hesitating, I relaxed my muscles, watching as the kids jumped to the ground and charged the blonde, shouting at her to 'brace herself'. I almost laughed when they ran straight into her magic shield and at how soundly they were beaten.

Oh yeah. How could I forget? Perhaps I took a few million hits to the head too many. This is the day where my friends tried to beat our teacher who, as stated by the village head, had to be beaten in order to go to the capital. Looking back on it, it was so silly, thinking we could manage to go toe to toe against one of the few people who trained Negi a few decades ago. I watched as my friends, myself included, get punished and sent out to the fields to work three times the normal labor, smiling as the memories kept coming back to me. I decided to trail the other me and Yukihime for the rest of the day for old times' sake.

Speaking of memories…there is a certain little someone who I need to take care of. Thankfully, I can take care of these two birds with one stone. But in order to do that, I need to wait for a few days. _He_ should be making his move relatively soon.

 _But what should I do to pass the next few days,_ I thought at the end of the day. I had hid in the trees and went invisible at times to avoid being seen and now I trailed a few meters behind the student and teacher pair. _I could do some mundane training…naw, can't do that._ Looking down at my hands, and feet; on each wrist and on each ankle; there was a skin tight jagged black marking present. There was also a mark that went around my throat. In addition, there was an image of a black phoenix inside a magic circle depicted on my back. Each marking on my arms and legs, as well as each mark that made up the phoenix and magic circle was a limiter, each one reducing the amount of magical energy I can put out. I can still use my full arsenal of magic easily; however, it would greatly reduce the power of most spells I cast. I wore a ring on the middle finger of my left hand that had the ability to prevent any aura from permeating through my skin and I had learned a great many techniques to hide my presence. Not even Evangeline would be able to sense me. Her seeing me, however, would be greatly problematic. Any of the seals breaking and releasing my locked up magical energy would also overload the ring and destroy it easily, lighting me up like a Christmas tree on moonless night. That, obviously, was also not okay. Taking off the ring is an easy enough fix for that problem...but then any potential opponents would be able to sense me, despite how much I put out. I could only take the ring off when I am fighting someone worthy or removing a seal, or when I want to end a fight quickly.

We had reached the building that I once called home. I watched as they entered the house and quickly jumped on top of it before one of them turned around to close the door. Making sure I placed no weight on the roof, I silently strode to the center of the roof and soundlessly sat down at a spot where I was sure I would not be seen.

"I think I will continue meditating." I told myself. "Can't afford to try to sleep otherwise I might miss my chance." I calmed my mind and folded my legs as I began to float in the air. Still hovering, I maneuvered myself towards a blind spot I saw not too far from my current position. Now, no one will see me, guaranteeing myself some stress-free days of meditation. As I closed my eyes, I thought to myself.

 _The next time I open these eyes, it will be to kill._

* * *

It has been several days since I first started meditating. While I was balancing the white and dark magicks within my body, I extended my senses every single day to listen and remember the days I spent with Kitty, not once breaking concentration. Sometimes I wanted to laugh, sometimes I wanted to cry, but I didn't do either of those, not even once. To do so would be to let the two magicks mix and render me unable to use magic. Can I balance them without meditating? Of course. But I happen to enjoy holding the two magicks evenly as I took in the events around me. It was peaceful, something I don't get to enjoy often.

Finally, the time came. I heard that bounty hunter talking to me and my friends some time ago, I could feel their magic energy working to cast the spells that were taught to them by _him_. Finally, I could feel them readying their attack.

There was nothing I have ever wanted more than to jump into the fray and kill that upstart bounty hunter right now before things got too out of hand. But first, some requirements had to be met. Requirement number one was Kitty to distract the bounty hunter enough for me to get there without either of them noticing me. The second requirement is for the me of this timeline to 'die'. I could do that myself or let the bounty hunter do it. No, only I could take my own life. I won't let Kitty watch the me of this time die. The third requirement is to use a certain spell that will merge my soul with the me of this time. That way, he won't really die, he will just become a part of me. Thankfully, I can do this in roughly a one hundredth of a second. Once the two are distracted, it should only take me about half a second to cross the distance between my house and the school. I just need to be patient.

Patience.

Patience.

Patience…NOW!

I opened my eyes for the first time in little under a week. My eyes adjusted to the light in a thousandth of a second and not soon after that, I pumped my muscles and shunpoed my way to the schoolyard. Everything was a blur as I ran. I didn't bother paying attention to my surroundings either way. All I was focused on was the trio before me, two standing and one on the ground. The two standing was Kitty and the bounty hunter, the miserable low life who attempted to kill Evangeline for a lowly 600,000,000 yen. The third was me. I quickly rushed over to him, careful not to draw the attention of the other two. It was not long, by my standards, until I was kneeled behind my younger self. I placed my finger on his back and drew a magic circle as fast as I could and chanted, "Ric Rac La Lac Maltac." Skipping the incantation for the Old Magic, I watched as my other self, before he could even react, become nothing but a mass of light that was then absorbed by the circle I drew. The other two didn't seem to notice, the both of them had the complete focus of the other.

 _Alright,_ I thought, _now that the me of this timeline is taken care of, I can finally have my revenge._ _Now what point are we at in this fight?_ I listened.

"The power of overcoming my special sealing spell…is love, isn't it?" I watched as the nameless bounty hunter donned an ugly grin. I realized that we were at the point where he was about to cut Kitty into five different pieces.

"Not this time, shit face." I watched as he withdrew his sword out of my teacher's arm. With that wicked grin still on his face, I could see his sword… _slowly_ descend on Yukihime.

 _So slow._ I thought I was walked up to intercept the sword. _I have enough time to block this a hundred different ways and still have enough time to do a few dozen push-ups._ Brushing aside the quite tempting desire to mock this man in all sorts of ways, I settled for simply blocking the sword with my pinky.

Clang! A metallic sound echoed off the school building and the nearby trees as his sword met my finger. The nameless man looked as if was about to say something but instantly shut his trap only for it to open so wide I could fit my head in it. Evangeline was slightly better off, only going slack jawed and looking at this seemingly impossible scene with wide eyes while falling on her butt with an "Oof!"

"You messed with the wrong person, boy." I told him, with my face like a storm and a voice of thunder.

"W-wh-how-w-wh-when-where-w-wh-why!?" He stuttered, so shocked he was unable to form a single sentence.

"How? Quite simply really. I'm just stronger than you. When…as in when did I get this strong? I haven't been like this long so you'll have to forgive me if I can't control my own strength. Where would be right here. As for why…" I glared at him and grasped his sword in my hand. Seeing this, he panicked and frantically tried to free his sword from my grasp; tried being the operative word in that sentence. "You just tried to cut her into five different pieces, didn't you? That is the only 'why' I need." I watched as he began to sweat buckets at my declaration. Once I finished, he let go of the sword and attempted to run away from me. I didn't give him he honor of my chasing them. Instead I held the sword up like a javelin.

"W-wait! Touta!" Too late. I had already thrown it. The sword sunk its blade into that person's neck, slicing clean right through him and thoroughly removing his head. That damned bounty hunter that started it all was dead. It was my very first kill. Surprisingly, I didn't feel that shaken up over it, I had thought that I would be puking my guts out.

"To-Touta." I looked behind me to see Yukihime brushing off the few traces of magic left on her and giving me one hell of a look that I couldn't really describe. She stood to her full height and looked down at me. "What was that?"

 _Oh, crap now to feign innocence. Not my strongest forte._ I looked all across the area for something that could explain my 'sudden' power up. Not seeing anything that could explain what just happened I decided to do a partial truth.

"I…I remembered something…about my past." I started.

"Oh?" She asked, clearly interested.

"A long time ago, before my parents sent me to be with you, I was bitten by something." I saw her eyes shoot up once she heard that. "I have been like this ever since then. I never told anyone about this, not even my own parents. I didn't think anyone would believe me." I kept one eye on how Kitty was reacting to my story, searching for signs of disbelief. So far, I haven't found any so I continued with my story. "I always had to hold back when I was around my friends. I didn't want them to think I was some kind of freak. And worst of all, I didn't want you to think I was some kind of freak either. But when I saw what he did to you and saw how fast he moved and how strong he was…I figured it would be okay if I just…let go."

I waited to hear her response. If she didn't believe me I would have to come up with another plan and I honestly didn't know how long it would take. She brought her hand up to mouth and slightly bit on her finger. After a few seconds, she seemed to come up to a decision as she released her finger from her mouth. Then she did something that I have never seen her do.

She got on her knees and prostrated herself before me.

"Please forgive me, Touta. That thing that bit you a long time ago…that was me." I already knew that but I pretended to be shocked.

"Wh-what?" I asked. She raised her head but remained on her knees.

"Two years ago, according to your late parents wish, I turned you into a vampire. I lied to myself and said that it was for your safety. I didn't know what you would think of it. Despite your innocence, I dragged you into my eternal curse. I am sorry."

I looked down at her, continuing the act. "By eternal curse…you mean immortality? Isn't that what everyone wants?" I asked.

"There are a lot of people who think that," she said, finally getting back on her feet. Thank Christ for that, I don't think I could have handled her kneeling in front of me for much longer. Then she looked at me with _those_ eyes, instantly making me wish she was back on her knees. Her eyes held pity. The one thing her eyes should not hold. "But once you do become immortal, you will find that it is not as good as everyone thinks it is."

Yeah, I know. Everyone you loved as a mortal will age and wither away while you have to stand and watch, while enduring all of your own troubles. I have been put through so much because of my immortality, there have been plenty of times I wished I was mortal again. But I didn't regret it. Because of it, I was able to meet this wonderful woman in front of me. I couldn't help but smile.

This action confused Evangeline. Ignoring her confusion, I raised my hand and flicked her in the nose, something she definitely didn't expect. She raised her hand to her nose in surprise and looked at me, questioning why I did that.

"Why are you apologizing with such a sweet face?" I raised my hand and rested it on her shoulder, pushing down. Seeing what I wanted her to do, she got back on her knees, making it easier for me to look into her eyes. I found it kind of funny that I was only a little bit taller than she was on her knees but I brushed that aside. My hand slowly guided itself up onto her cheek, massaging it with the thumb, successfully drawing a blush out of the leader of the immortal organization. "You should just stand there and preach at me like you always do. Besides, I am glad you are an immortal."

"What?" she asked, still blushing.

"It really hurt when I thought you were going to die. I'm glad I intervened when I did. I couldn't bear the thought of you dying. You are the only one I can call family after all." I saw my friends waking up in the corner of my eye. I excused myself and went over to see if they were all right. I went over so quickly that I almost missed Kitty whispering something.

"You're…more mature than I thought you were."

Oh, I am so not letting her live that one down.

It has been a few days since we left the countryside on our journey towards the capital, currently traveling through a lush green forest. We stopped by a village a few miles back to replenish our supplies and rest for a bit. I met this young girl named Shinobu in that village who also wants to go to the top of the tower. This world is really a small world, isn't it? I will have to stop by her village again once we reach the capital, hopefully before Negi and Nagi take their move.

That reminds me, my friends back home made up this song that we liked to sing every now and then. To liven up the silence, I figured I would whistle it for a bit. After about five minutes of whistling I decided to stop since the tune was getting old for me.

"Hey," Kitty said, a little disappointed, "I was enjoying that." She complained.

"Ha ha," I laughed, a little nervous, "got to let my mouth rest before I start whistling again." I told her. Obviously, I could have kept going if I chose to but I needed to act like the old Touta as much as possible or else my cover might get blown.

"Please," she laughed, "your mouth needs to rest? Oh please. That big mouth of yours never needs rest."

"Oh?" I looked back at her, a small tic mark forming on my head. "And you would know, wouldn't you? After all, you taught me everything to know about big mouths. Isn't that right, Yuki-Big-Mouth?"

Now a tic mark was forming on her head. "Seems like someone managed to grow a pair in the last few days. Maybe someone needs to be taught a lesson."

I laughed again, taunting her, "Oh please, if I have to sit through another one of your lessons I just might fall asleep!"

 _Seeing as I probably know more about fighting and magic then she does._

"Oh…" I turned around to see what the noise was. I could see that Yukihime's eyes were glowing sky blue, her aura seemed to take the shape of an ice storm, not to mention I could actually feel the temperature dropping. "I seem to have forgotten something." She said, making me somewhat nervous. "I forgot that you are an immortal now. That means I can ramp up then punishments now does it not!?" The temperature began to fall faster, the ice storm grew more violent and I could tell she was about to unleash some big magic.

"Malleus Aquilonis!" Once the name of the spell was uttered, I felt a massive amount of magic energy above me. I looked up…and saw a massive chunk of ice the size of a large hill coming right at me.

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _Dana and I were fighting, I was being pushed back for a while now. She had killed me so many times that I was getting afraid of what might happen if she kept killing me. Would my healing factor wear out? Would I finally die? Before having done anything?_**

 ** _"_** ** _Where do you think you are going!?" A voice from behind me asked. I spun on my heel to look up at the massive bodied woman. Seeing something from above, I saw a massive fist crashing down on me!_**

 ** _I'm not going to make it!_**

 ** _(Flashback End)_**

"Ric Rac La Lac Maltac!" I crouched down into a stance, balancing the magics within me as I did so. "Forma Fulgur!" Lightning began to coat my skin, crackling in the air around me. I was in danger, I didn't have the time to dodge, and the attack was falling to fast. Therefore, there was only one thing left to do.

Destroy it.

The lightning began to grow even more fierce as I channeled it into my legs. With no sound whatsoever, I jumped to meet the block of ice head on. As we raced towards the other, I pulled my right hand back and threw it forward. The ice met my thunder charged fist, breaking into pieces under my destructive power, the sound echoing like a boom of thunder.

With the threat of being crushed evaded, I searched the ground for the source of the spell. It did not even take half a second to locate the girl. Using the larger pieces of ice as momentum, I ran down and jumped from block to block and jumped off the last one, landing at the feet of the Dark Evangel, throwing a punch she should not be able to respond to.

 **BOOM!**

A crack of thunder sounded off as the lightning from my entire body crawled along my skin at amazing speeds to join the fist in its attempt to reck the shit of the being who dared incurred the wrath of its wielder, kicking up smoke and dust whenever a bolt missed. When the sediment finally did settle,Yukihimi was leaning back on her hands in shock and disbelief. The force of my jump must have knocked her off her feet. My fist was hovering just a millimeter away from the area of her chest where her heart was located.

"Touta…" Yukihime said in awe, all former anger gone in an instant, "you can use magic? Without an app?"

"Don't talk to me." I said without any discussion, turning my back to her and began walking in the same path that we were initially taking.

"Bu..! But Touta!" Yukihime called out to me, trying to get an explanation out of me.

"This conversation is over!" I shouted at her, convincing her to stop. She looked like she had so many things to say and ask right now, but decided to honor my demand.

After all, my face was not one that said 'ask away'. It said 'shut the fuck up'. And she was not used to seeing me with that kind of face. It must have thrown her off balance.

How could she just use such a powerful spell on me just because I am an immortal? If I had been anyone else, that would have killed me!

This calls for payback. But if I try to physically attack her she can just split into bats and avoid any physical means of harm due to her identity of a Shinzo vampire.

I spent the last half an hour thinking intensely on what spell I should use as payback, subconsciously leading us through the familiar leafy terrain

"Um…Tou…ugg…T...can I at least…nevermind." Kitty was still trying to apologize for earlier. I was still not happy with her in the slightest but I had calmed down enough to listen to her apology.

"What do you want Yukihime?" I stopped and turned to face her. "We are almost out of the forest."

"I…I just wanted to apologize. I knew you were just exchanging word play just as I was. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I am sorry." I looked at her and sighed. Again with the regretful face. I pulled my hands out of my pockets and walked over to her holding one out.

"I don't mind you using magic, but magic for me means it is time to get serious. I don't use it unless I think I am in absolute danger, like with that little prank you pulled earlier. Don't throw something that big at me again unless I know you are joking and don't really mean to hurt me. Deal?"

"Deal." She took my hand. _Heh._

When she wrapped her fingers around my own, I discharged some of the electricity that remained after into her hand, causing her to jump back as she was literally shocked and looked back at her smoking hand.

"I'll call it even with that." I winked at her and started walking again. I could hear her chuckle and she rubbed her hand.

"Cocky brat."

"What was that?" I hollered.

"Nothing." She innocently replied. After a few moments we both started laughing at the absurdity of what transpired. We were still laughing when we finally came out of the forest.

"Oh hey, a building." I noticed. "Geh, it's just an abandoned gas station."

"Still, we have not stopped to actually rest in a while so might as well take a break." She said. Actually, now that I think about it...it was around here that I first met Kurormaru. Gotta make sure that still happens, he will be quite important later on.

"Hey, I'm going to go take a shower in that waterfall over there," I told her, indicating the general direction.

"Okay, just be careful of bounty hunters!"

"Yeah yeah!" I shouted back, taking off on a light job, hoping he was still bathing since me and Kitty and a bit of a dispute on our way here.

After a few minutes of light jogging I tossed off my clothes mid run and jumped right in. The water actually felt great. It has been so long since I have felt actual water on my back. I took a shower before I left Dana's place but the cold water has its perks.

I surfaced and just let myself float on the surface, just relaxing, waiting. Of course, just like last time, I hit something that wasn't quite hard but it wasn't soft either.

"Whoops." I said as I straightened myself and looked back to see, as expected, Kuromaru Tokisaki standing alert as he looked behind his shoulder to see who just bumped into his butt. "Sorry about that," I apologized, "I had my eyes closed and wasn't paying attention to where I was floating. My bad." He took this a lot better than the last time, removing his hand from the sword he had on the nearby rock and covering himself with his towel.

"Oh no, it is my fault for not paying attention. I was just getting out and didn't think of looking behind me. My name is Kuromaru Tokisaki." he said, extending his hand.

"Mine is Touta Konoe. Nice to meet you." I pretended to notice his sword on the rock he just had his hand on. "Is that a sword up there by chance?" I pointed. He looked back to see where I was pointing.

"Actually, it is." He looked back over at me. "Do you also know the ways of the sword?"

I nodded. "I do actually. However, my sword was just a simple bamboo one and it recently got smashed." I rubbed the back of my head in a sheepish manner to go along with my story.

"Really?" He asked, a glint in his eye. "Would you mind if I see your swordsmanship? I have a spare sword on me if you are interested."

 _Bullseye._ "Sure, sounds like fun. Just let me run over and grab my clothes and I will be right back!" I turned the other way and started swimming back to where I dropped my clothes at. Not in any real hurry now that I found him, I took my time drying off and getting dressed. Once everything was back where it should be I leisurely strolled back to where I first saw Kuromaru. I found him leaning against a tree a few yards away from the waterfall.

"It is about time," he called, " I was beginning to think you chickened out!"

"Heh, it will take more than a few taunts and some bravado to scare me off." I grinned back, accepting his challenge with much eagerness.

"I would be disappointed otherwise." He grabbed two swords off the ground by his feet and threw one of them at me. I caught it with my left arm and appraised it. "I figured you should use a sword that you are better accustomed to." He told me as I inspected the bamboo sword he tossed me. It was a little too light for my taste but it will probably be the heaviest I will get so I accepted it gladly.

"Sounds like you really want an all-out fight." I asked the indirect question, doing a few test swings to adjust to the unusual sword.

"I figured we would fight till one of us yields. Seeing as you can swing that sword around like it is nothing, surely you don't mind, do you?" He grinned. I grinned back. Was he always this much of a sword fanatic? Maybe I earned his respect by not groping his ass like last time. Then again, my shirt was off and I did have an impressive build.

Suddenly, my body started moving on its own, directing the sword to block an overhead strike from my opponent. "You must have a lot of confidence in your skills if you are dozing off like that." Kuromaru grunted, putting actual effort behind his stroke.

"Hey, hey. What would you have done if that actually hit me?" I asked him as I pushed him back a little bit and went in for the engage.

"I would have done nothing since you must not amount to much if a simple strike like that was all it took to defeat you." He parried three of my four strikes, dodging the last and lashing out at my exposed stomach.

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or be insulted by that." I told him, side stepping the blow and began pressuring him. We continued to exchange blows as well as our verbal jousts. He told me that he was from space and that his family trained him in the ways of the sword and that he was not allowed to return until he found the person that he was told to find. At this point, we had concluded our sparing session with Kuromaru being completely out of breath while I was breathing just as easily as before we began.

"But still…your swordsmanship…is amazing…I couldn't even get a single blow in…" he wheezed. He was lying on his butt on the concrete, getting his breath back.

"I was surprised too." I told him, "You were a lot stronger than I thought you were." Those were honest to goodness words of praise that just left my mouth. Back in my timeline, I never got to fought Kuromaru at his full strength because he would always go easy on me. Now I could see the huge gap that had stood between him and the old me, and I was grateful that he deemed me worthy of going all out.

I smiled down at him. "Hey Yukihime!" I called. "We just finished up. Could you bring us something to drink?" I heard no answer but I knew that she heard me. I could tell she was eavesdropping on me. Vampiric hearing had its perks, such as being able to hear anything going on for miles.

"Who did you call out to?" Kuromaru asked, seemingly haven gotten his breath back. I offered my hand and he took it with gratitude.

"I'm traveling with a friend. She was watching us fight and I was getting a little thirsty. So, I asked her to bring us something to drink. Let's wait against that glass until she shows up." I pointed to our right and started walking over to it, Kuromaru in tow. We both leaned against the glass and waited. While we waited Kuromaru thought it would be a little funny to start asking weird questions.

"Earlier, you said 'she' right?" _Oh no, I know where this is going._

"Yeah. Why?" I saw him smirk.

"Oh come on, we just got done having a very intense sword fight and you get all defensive once I ask you about a girl? You must really care about her don't you?"

 _…_ _God dammit._ "And what would you do I said yes?" I rolled my eyes but I couldn't stop the grin on my face.

"Well, I would ask for a name. Then maybe I can get to know her as well." He said.

"I'm going to ask this now," I told him, totally serious right now. "You aren't interesting in trying to take her from me, are you?" It took him a while to understand what I meant. When did, however, he instantly lightened up in his teasing and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Oh, sorry about that." Were his words. "It is just I haven't ever met someone like you before so I didn't really know how to act. No, I am not trying to take her away from you, I apologize if that is what it seemed like."

I breathed a little sigh of relief. I was wondering why he was acting so differently than what I knew. So he was only trying to find out what I liked in a friend. I gave him a good clap in the shoulder and told him, "That is fine. Just act like yourself and be honest with me and you can expect us to be good friends." I saw the uncertainty in his eyes as I informed him of this. That uncertainty didn't last for long as I soon saw a fire burn bright in his eyes. He mimicked my shoulder clap.

"I will hold that to you as well," he informed me, "don't you say one thing and start doing something else."

"Deal."

"Deal."

With that out of our systems we both relaxed, our nerves finally settled down. We enjoyed a few minutes of silence before Kuromaru spoke. "I still want to know the name of that girl."

I glanced over at him and saw a flash of yellow nearby. "Just in time then. She is right over there." I nodded in the general direction she was in. The swordsman turned his head to see who was approached. As soon as he recognized the face he was instantly on his feet.

"Th…that is you friend?" He asked hesitantly. I could see him swallow his saliva in nervousness and anticipation.

"Yup," I said, keeping an eye on him in case he tried to dash her like in my time line, "she likes to be called Yukihime but her real name is Evangeline A.K. McDowell. And judging by your reaction, you know what she is." He looked back at me in shock. "Let me reintroduce myself. I am Touta Konoe and before you even ask, yes, I am a vampire as well."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _(Last time)_

 _. "I still want to know the name of that girl."_

 _I glanced over at him and saw a flash of yellow nearby. "Just in time then. She is right over there." I nodded in the general direction she was in. The swordsman turned his head to see who was approached. As soon as he recognized the face he was instantly on his feet._

 _"Th…that is you friend?" He asked hesitantly. I could see him swallow his saliva in nervousness and anticipation._

 _"Yup," I said, keeping an eye on him in case he tried to dash her like in my time line, "she likes to be called Yukihime but her real name is Evangeline A.K. McDowell. And judging by your reaction, you know what she is." He looked back at me in shock. "Let me reintroduce myself. I am Touta Konoe and before you even ask, yes, I am a vampire as well."_

 _(Touta POV)_

I honestly didn't think out any prior course of action on how to deal with this situation. I knew that meeting Kuromaru and getting him into UQ Holder was very much mandatory and that we would be needing him in the near future. However, last time, Yukihime just punched a hole clear through his stomach and then after he recovered we fought. He may have regained his breath but there was no doubt that he was in pain from our sparing session earlier. She might not even try the same thing she did last time. She could try to break his spirit rather than his body. I had no choice but to wait and see how things played out.

"Oh? So, you are the boy who encouraged little Touta to play with sharp things." She teased, not losing her cool in the slightest. "It was rather interesting to watch. I quite enjoyed the show."

I had to raise an eyebrow at my fellow vampire, I sure as hell didn't see that coming. Out of all the options she could have taken, she chose to go with the friendly route? Seems like she deserves a pat on the back for that one. Now, how is Kuromaru going to respond to this?

Despite her open behavior and easy-going attitude, I didn't see any change in Kuromaru's facial expressions. He was sweating buckets and his eyes were constantly moving. Was he trying to look for a way to escape? I really hoped he didn't try that. Although I guess it was better than watching a hand sprout of out of his back like a bloody rose. _Are we really going to have to do this after all?_ I thought, a little disappointed that it seemed conflict was inevitable.

"Evan…Evangeline A.K. McDowell! You as well Touta Konoe! The both of you have no choice but to be killed by me!" the exhausted swordsman exclaimed, taking an offensive stance with his sword held horizontally to the ground. I sighed hearing this. _This bravado again?_

"But I already beat you not even a few minutes ago though," I reminded him, much to his apparent disappointment.

"That didn't count!We are just getting started!"

"No, we aren't." I told him with finality. "Don't you get it? Kuromaru, I already beat you and you were trying your absolute hardest. That means you are no match for Evangeline; she taught me almost everything I know." I told him, realizing I made a slip of the tongue. I eyed the Dark Evangel, hoping that it would go in one of ear and out the other. Unfortunately, this was not the case. She instantly looked over at me with a confused look in her eye.

"Wait, what do you mean almost?" she asked.

"Well, you didn't teach me that spell I used earlier now did you?" I told her whilst folding my arms and offering a cocky grin, grateful that I had found an easy out for this situation on the top of my head. Evangeline blinked and sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"No," she admitted, somewhat reluctantly, "no I did not. But getting back to the topic at hand." She moved her other hand on to her hip, giving off that 'business' look she had learned while disguised as a teacher. "Touta is right. If you can't even beat my disciple than you stand no change against me." I actually felt a little hurt by that one.

Kuromaru did not take that insult lightly. "We don't know that until I have tried!" With that being said, I couldn't help but watch Evangeline catch his falling sword with the tips of her fingers and drive her fist right into and through his solar plexus, her hand piercing his body like a nail being driven into a block of wood. She pulled her hand out as fast she put it in, effectively sending Kuromaru flying while swiping the air simultaneously in one stroke, the blood on her hand flying off to splatter onto the ground, leaving her hand as clean as it was before the fight if not cleaner.

His body fit the ground like a sack of potatoes, rather loudly and went everywhere.

"Ugg." I said in disgust, "You don't think you could have made that a little bit cleaner?" I asked my 'superior'.

"I could of," she admitted, "but him attacking me actually got me a little annoyed so I figured might as well give him a messy death." I understood the feeling so I couldn't find any fault in her logic. Back when I was training I often got so annoyed that I was dying so many times that whenever I managed to kill Dana I made sure it was as messy as possible just to satisfy myself. As I reminiscing about the few good times of my training, I began to smell something. As I took a whiff of the air I determined that the smell was…smoke? Oh right, Kuromaru's healing factor.

"Looks like you didn't kill him after all," I told Eva. She too had picked up on the scent and looked over to the smoking body.

"Hmph," she said, promptly smacking herself in the face with her hand, "I didn't think they would use an immortal to hunt other immortals." Seeing her in a rare state, I decided to take full opportunity of this to tease her again.

"Oh? You didn't even think of _that?_ What kind of teacher do you think you are?" I took great relish seeing tic marks appear on her head and her hand clench into a fist.

"Want to see what kind of teacher I can be up close and personal?" She glowered. _Man, if looks could kill_ … _oh my god I just thought of a way to make this so much better!_

I started playing with my hands and didn't make eye contact with her, looking away. I responded to her in a very shy voice while acting timid. "Wh…what kind of things are you saying Yukihime- _sensei_." Evangeline became _very_ confused as to why her student's attitude suddenly did a one eighty, and calling her sensei above all else. She stepped a little closer to try to see my face. Quickly smirking that this was actually working, I kept my face hidden from the blond vampire.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" She asked, sounding slightly worried. Did she think I might have been poisoned in my brawl with Kuromaru earlier? It was possible to coat a blade with poison but Kuromaru wasn't that kind of swordsman.

I continued the act gleefully. "How can I be alright with you saying things like that?" I quietly muttered, knowing full well she could still hear me. Now it was time for the punch line of my whole act. "Well, if you like things like that…" I slowly grasped the bottom of my shirt and pulled if over my head, turning to face her finally. I could see her eyes traveling across my body in bewilderment, shock, and…was that embarrassment?

"T-Touta," she began, very hesitant. She knew somethings was _very_ wrong here, "what are you doing?" She asked, looking quite confused, not knowing what she should do in this situation. _Almost there_.

"I-isn't this what you wanted?" I asked her. I decided to drop the act here, fully satisfied with my acting and letting a huge, cocky grin don my face. For additional effect, I stuck my hips out and placed one of my hands on them, putting the other behind me head. "To get all up close and personal with your student?" I couldn't hold my mask any longer than a few seconds. The look on her face was absolutely priceless! Finally realizing that she had just been played, her face was beat red! Her lips were curled up, revealing her fangs gnashing against each other as she ground them together in anger and frustration. That, combined with her red face, was icing on the cake! I was curled up in a ball laughing my ass off. Each time I thought I was done laughing, an image of her face popped into my head and it started all over again, each time my laughter grew in volume and intensity, making my stomach hurt so bad that I honestly thought I was going to burst.

"Touta…" a dangerous voice said. I knew what was coming next. I instantly got to my feet, still laughing, and started running just as a huge pillar of ice fell in my previous location. I kept running around as hundreds of pillars, rocks, and storms of ice were sent after me. "I swear, the moment I catch you I am going to kill you!" Came a voice from right behind me. Not breaking pace, I looked and saw a murderous look on Evangeline's face as she had decided to hunt me down personally, realizing that her magic was too slow to hit me. The moment I took in her face I started laughing even harder! Her eyes were glowing brighter than her face was! This only served to fuel her anger as she dove forward in an attempt to tackle me. I didn't even need to think about dodging as my body abruptly changed direction without my telling it to, Eva soaring past me and into several trees. Not like they slowed her down in the least but it was still very funny to see leaves and twigs in her hair when she became visible again.

She continued to chase me for about half an hour until I had to stop in order to catch my breath, my stomach hurting so much from all the laughing I had done. Evangeline was at my side a mere second later looking like an absolute mess. There were a lot more sticks in her hair and her clothes were all dirty now, even a little torn in some places.

"Since…since when did you become so fast, you little shit?" she asked, still quite miffed that she hadn't been able to catch me. _Had she been actually trying?_ I asked myself, seeing her hands on her knees and she was trying to catch her own breath as well. I let the thought slide as I got up, walking over to the blond.

"Believe me when I say there are a lot of things about me that you still don't know about." I told her, picking out all the crap in her hair.

"Apparently," she admitted. "Perhaps you could show me what you can really do later?" She asked, sounding hopeful. I froze.

 _Could I really do that?_ I thought. _Negi told me not to change the timeline but that was when my original timeline was still there. But if I did show her what I was capable of, would she even still accept me? Would things even happen in the same order as last time if I did? No, no way in hell would it stay the same! I need things to stay the way they are so I can put an end to Ialda!_

 _But…maybe…_

"…I don't know." Is what I told her, resuming my work of cleaning her hair. "There is so much that has happened within the last few years. I don't know where to exactly start."

Her hair now clean, I grabbed it and gently pulled it back so that it fell down her back once again, my nose picking up its scent as it fell. _Citrus?_ It smelled so nice I almost lost myself in the scent. Shaking my head to regain myself, I saw that Eva had stood and was currently shaking her head to get her hair in a comfortable position.

"Not a bad job Touta, you actually did very well with my hair." She complemented, sounded pleasantly confused. "Is this one of those skills you didn't want me to know about?" She gave me one of her teasing smiles. I couldn't help but smile back when I saw her like that.

"Maybe." I responded. We began to jog at super speed back to where we were previously before our little scuffle began. I looked at the destruction we wrought. There was ice everywhere. What was previously an abandoned gas station and a small lake being now what appeared to be the ice age in its prime. Wait a minute…

"Oh crap." I moaned, not exactly looking forward to what was going to happen.

"What?" The True Vampire asked, wondering what made me groan.

"We gotta find Kuromaru." I told her, walking to the nearest block of ice and started smashing it bit by bit so that, if he was in here, I wouldn't accidently break him into thousands of little pieces.

"Oh, you mean him?" I turned to see Eva leaning on a pillar of ice that seemed a bit…colored? I walked closer and looked inside the block of ice. Yup, that was him, fully regenerated and looking as if he was froze mid run. "Don't want you losing your new friend, now would we?"

This actually relieved me to no extent. "Thank goodness," I sighed, very thankful that she froze him before coming after me. "Hey, all of this ice is cooling the entire area. I saw a hot spring resort while you were chasing me a few hundred miles that way. Want to see if they are still open?"

"That does sound quite nice right now." She consented. "You want to bring him along, I take it?"

"Might as well, keep friends close and enemies' closer thing." I told her, breaking the top and bottom part of the ice to make it easier to carry, making sure to not catch any of his body parts. "Besides, maybe I can convince him to join us on our way to the capital." _Or more specifically until UQ holder finds us._

"Oh, man this feels amazing~." I happily groaned as I let myself slide into the welcoming embrace of the hot water. This beats the hot shower and the cold lake any day, any month, and time. "Hey," I call out, "I don't think tying your hair takes that long slow poke! Besides, a hot spring should feel great to you seeing as I had to unfreeze you."

"All because that demon froze me in the first place!" I looked over to see Kuromaru standing at the entrance, covering the front of his body with a towel like a female would, shivering.

"Well hurry up and get in, warm up!" I told him, getting a little annoyed, "Or stand there and stay cold!"

"I am very uncomfortable with this!" he exclaimed, more complaining than anything else.

"Then get in here and warm up like I just told you to!"

"We don't have a custom of sharing baths with strangers in my country!" _Oh hey I forgot about that._

"Then think about it this way then." I had his attention now. Then, before he could respond, I jumped out the hot spring, grabbed his wrist, and flung him into the hot spring. "Now you don't have a choice." I laughed.

"I didn't have a choice!" He hollered at me, upset. He calmed down shortly afterward, the miracles of hot water working its magic. "But still, this does feel really good. I don't remember the last time I was this calm."

"Hot springs work wonders, that is for sure." I smiled, sinking even further into the water, careful not to dip my head in. Kuromaru and I enjoyed the silence and just reveled in the quiet and warmth.

"So Kuromaru, about your clan," I began, approached the sensitive subject, "you are aware that Evangeline is not a 'husk of what she was' anymore right? She has gotten stronger than she was, just hasn't used her magic often since." Having her hand pierce his body easily, he knew from personal experience.

"Yeah, I do. The clan told me fight an unbeatable opponent, and threw me aside just as easily. They just wanted me out of the way. But it is still my home, with people I care for there." He reasonably argued.

"Do you really think that anyone there wants you if the clan threw you out?" That made him hesitate. "And if anyone there does care for you, they will leave the clan in search of you and eventually find us. If and when they do, then you know who your friends are. Speaking of which," I stood up, securing my towel across my waist, "Come with us Kuromaru. It would be great to have a friend of your skill to spar with every day." I extended my arm to him, hoping he would take it. I _needed_ him to take it.

I saw him hesitate, glance at my hand, glance at me, glance at his surroundings, and glance at me again. He sighed and stood as well, wrapping his body.

"Sure." He considered. "You seem like a nice guy, despite hanging out with the Dark Evangel. Besides," he smirked at me, "maybe being your, and her, disciple, I just might get strong enough to bring your heads to the clan someday."

"So, you still haven't given up bringing our heads to the people who abandoned you?" I frowned, disappointed.

"No, I was joking, I wouldn't do that to my new friend. The only condition I have is you don't expect me to suddenly be all buddy buddy with your _girlfriend_." I, happy that he decided to join us, got quite frustrated and surprised when he called Eva my girlfriend. I could feel my face burning, and not because of the hot springs.

"Sp-speaking of which, I should probably go tell her the good news." I said, turning around and walking towards the cliff which the girls bath lay atop of.

"Go tell her...? You mean peak!?" He asked, shocked I would do such a thing.

"Peak? We lived together for two years." I told him, albeit that two years being an eon ago. "There is not a single part of her body I don't know about. I've grown bored of it. I only see her body as just that, a body." Still very much true, even after ten centuries later. But her true form, on the other hand… I may not have been a Lolita before, but ever since I accepted my feelings for her, I can't help the feeling of wanting to see her naked without those dumb pills getting in the way. _I wonder if the 'fetch the towel of her' quest would still happen._ My face burned brighter at the image in my head.

"Then, why go up there? Why not wait until we get out?" He asked, sitting back down into the water, confused.

"…" I walked over to where the swordsman sat and whispered into his ear. "The situation I am in is a little weird. I haven't seen her in a while so I want to spend as much time as I can with her." Kuromaru raised an eyebrow but said nothing, knowing that if he said anything that the vampire above would hear. I turned around and once again looked up at the cliff. She probably already knows but might as well announce myself. I inhaled and started whistling the song she enjoyed back in the forest. Flexing my muscles while maintaining the song, I jumped, not bothering to try climbing, settling for clearing the cliff with a single jump.

I only put enough force into the jump so I would land on the edge without overextending the jump. The tips of my toes touched the rock floor without a single sound. Without missing a beat, I walked over to the furnished wood floor and stepped into the warm water. I let out another whistle to let her know I was here.

"You were being quite noisy down there." I heard her say. I looked over onto the nearby rock I knew she would be sitting on, her towel wrapped around her figure as expected. Already knowing there was no one else up here cause of my hearing, I smiled at the nostalgia of her words.

"And you were being awfully quite up here so I figured I might as well come up and check on ya, make sure the little Dark Evangel doesn't drown herself in some hot springs." Making my way through the water, I gradually made my way over to her.

"Well, unlike the two of you, I happen to find silence quite relaxing." She told me, not alarmed by my approaching her in the slightest, knowing I wouldn't do anything stupid. "That, along with the warm water, makes me almost forget about the days of the past." I instantly stopped after hearing those words. I couldn't stop an image of Kitty creeping into my head. And it wasn't the happy, innocent smiling Kitty either that I came to love. It was the version of Kitty that was known as the Dark Evangel, the Doll Master, and Maga Nosferatu to name a few.

"You are speaking of four hundred and fifty years ago, aren't you?" I spoke without even thinking. Realizing what just happened, I instantly shut my mouth. _Fuck! If I don't find a way to fix this now, the future is most definitely change!_ But it was too late, the damage was done and nothing was going to take back what I had just said.

"Four hundred and fifty years ago?" Kitty asked. "You wouldn't know wha…!"

 ** _Shatter!_**

Something sounded like it shattered, like glass breaking. But there was no glass up here. I looked back at Yukihime and saw the strangest thing. There was bits of a magic circle floating around her head. Curious, I grabbed one and read the partial magic sequence that was on it, another rather handy skill taught to me by the Witch of the Void. Once I finished analyzing the fragment I couldn't help but let it fall and finish disintegrating.

 _That type of magic circle? Tell me she didn't!_ I took in her face. It looked like she had just finished piecing together what I said with her memories from way back then, instantly knowing what I was talking about. This came as a great shock to the true vampire, not knowing I had this information. I watched as her eyes grew round, her hand that had been used to rest her head was now falling to her side ever so slowly, her feet entering the water for what appeared to be the first time. Her composure completely and utterly lost, she uttered a single question, doubt filling her voice as well as her face, hoping against the odds that what she was thinking was true. "Does that mean…?"

 _Sigh. I can't lie to that face. I knew it would be too hard to hold everything back from her._ Instead of trying to find an excuse, I admitted defeat and opened my arms with a smile on my face. "It has been a long time Kitty. Last time I saw you, you were still ruling as the Ice Queen."

If the situation was anything but what it was now, I would have sworn the person in front of me was not the real Evangeline MK McDowell. Her face was beginning to flush, her shoulders began to shake, and I could see tears stream down her cheeks, the rest of her face hidden behind her blond hair. What happened next, was something I never thought I would ever see the girl I came to love ever do. She ran at me and literally tackled me into the water. Had I been the Touta of old I might have had my body ripped into pieces by the charge alone. Now she was squeezing me if I was her only lifeline. Standing us up before the water could converge on us and cover my eyes, I walked us over to a hotter spot of the springs and sat us down to make it more comfortable on myself, Kitty shifting as I did so, never once letting go.

I let her stay in the position she was in for a few minutes, waiting for her to calm down a little bit. Once I thought it was safe for me to hold a conversation without being told to be quiet, I spoke. "Did you forget about me again? Even after looking after me for the past few years as well as dealing with my lookalike grandfather and great-grandfather?"

"I-idiot," she said, looking up me with red eyes, "once you got swallowed by the break in time, I made a seal and sealed all of the memories I had of you, hoping that if I could forget about you, then my hopes never would have gotten up and reality would not have hit me so hard!" _I knew it…so it was a Memory Seal..._

I wrapped my arms around her and slowly brushed her now wet hair with my hand, hoping it would calm her down a little more. "I owe you a rather long explanation, don't I?" I already knew what the answer to the question was but I asked it anyway.

"Yes! Yes you do!" she exclaimed, not taking her eyes off of mine for an instant. "And you better tell me every detail, I don't want you leaving out anything!" I couldn't help but chuckle as she talked. "What is so funny!?" she whined, which was rather cute in my honest opinion. I have never seen her whine before. It was oddly amusing.

"No, no, its nothing." I told her. "This just reminds me of when we first met about seven hundred years ago. Or rather…one thousand and seven hundred years for me." This bit of information also made Kitties eyes grow in shock.

"One thousand and seven…!? What do you mean!? You were only born a decade or so ago!"

"Kitty," I dropped the smile and adopted a rather solemn expression, "we both know that isn't true. Don't try to lie for my sake." Apparently I was just a box of wonders today. Each time I opened my mouth, Kitty just kept getting more and more surprised, even starting to look a little scared at the tone the conversation had taken and by how much I knew.

"Touta, Touta look at me!" She grabbed my face with both of her hands, fully sitting on my lap now. "Touta, that explanation had better happen soon because, as much as I don't want to admit it, you seem to know a lot more than you let on and it is scaring me." She was dead serious with worry, and it was kind of cute to watch. I grabbed her hands and slowly removed them from my face, keeping one in my right hand while I reached up and placed my hand on top of her head, petting her.

"Slow down Kitty, slow down. I triggered your memory seal to break and you are acting no differently than when we first met back when you were just a teenager. Turn around and I will give you a massage to help you relax. You will need to be, at the very least, comfortable because what you are about to hear would make most immortal want to run and hide." Seeing how dead serious I was and still in shock, she complied to my demands, maneuvering herself so that her back was faced towards me, dropping her towel in the process so remove the hinderance the cloth would surely provide to her comfort. I placed my hands on her shoulders, weaving a small amount of fire magic into my hands, heating them up a bit to relax her muscles as I worked them, Kitty moaning in appreciation.

"Well then," I began, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to reveal this to anyone until the time came. Since I spoke without even thinking, however; I guess I don't have that choice anymore, do I?" I asked myself, shaking my head in shame at how long I had managed to keep it a secret compared to how long I had wanted to keep it secret. "Well, let's start with back when we were back at that countryside school…"

* * *

"We were back at the school, with me foolishly thinking my friends and I could beat you and start our journey to the capital. Still not very happy you lead us on like that." I told her with a joking tone in my voice, my hands working her shoulders.

"Isn't it a normal thing to hide your power when you are under cover?" She countered, laughing a little bit, my massage managing to calm her down little by little. "Also, why would I bother showing you boys any amount of my power?"

"Perhaps to scare us off from trying to blindside you all the time?" I reasoned. She shook her head and ran a hand through her wet hair, not liking how it was sticking to her skin.

"Believe me, there have been times where I have wanted to do just that. But anyway, what about the school?" _Oh yeah, got a little sidetracked._

I coughed and continued, "After trying to beat you so many times we somehow managed to catch that bounty hunter slash teacher's attention. He taught us how to use **Binding Ivy** and **Double Shot** to restrain your movements. He also gave me that bracelet that you were wearing. And you pretty much know what happened from there." I paused. She didn't give me any signs of wanting me to stop so I kept going.

"However, what I am about to tell you differs from what happened a few days ago."

"Huh?" she asked, twisting her head so she could see me. "why would you tell me a different version of what happened?"

"Just let me finish and will get there." I assured her. "Now, the first time around, I couldn't block his sword. Hell, it took all I had not to scream out in pain when he cut my arm off and made me watch as he cut you into pieces. I was in shock back then, watching the closest thing I had to a mother in such a state. I honestly thought you were a normal human back then and thought you were dying. I believed that I was the one at fault seeing as I gave you that artifact that seals magic. Then that guy stabbed me in the chest. To put it simply, I drank your blood, became an immortal and punched him all the way to kingdom come."

After that, I hesitated in continuing, wondering how the girl in my lab was feeling at the moment. Deciding it would be wise to hear her words I waited for her to speak.

"Okay…?" she started slowly, rotating herself so that she was facing me, repositioning herself into a position that, if looked at by a third party, it would seem she was straddling me. _Well…I guess she kind of is,_ I realized, a blush coming to my face from the awkward sensation in my lap. Speaking of my lap…! The blush on my face became even more profound. _Don't think about it, don't think about it! Otherwise she will know that little me isn't so little anymore!_

"So, what does this have to do with the first part of the story?" She asked with a perplexed look on her face, wondering why I had yet to respond to her earlier implied question. Thank God! She thinks the red on my face is because of the hot spring!

"Because the version of the story I just told you is what I went through the first time." I answered, relieved I had something to focus on besides the warmth of her skin on my thighs. However, this only served to make her even more confused if her raised eyebrow and doubting voice were anything to go by.

"You said that earlier too." She spoke, recalling what I said moments ago. "What do you mean by 'first time'? If you are implying that you lived through both versions of what you told me, then I don't believe you. After all, there is no way you can go through the same moment in time again unless…!" Her face lit up in realization. Her eyes grew round and her body began to twitch, shaking in fear of the truth she had talked herself into bringing to light.

"Unless you either use a Phantasmagoria…or go back in time." I watched as she stared into my eyes…yet…seemed to look even past them, as if looking through me. Then, she slowly averted her gaze down into the water, trying to process this new and quite shocking information. When she looked up at me again, her eyes bore into mine once again, staring into my eyes as if she was trying to see my soul through them rather than just looking past them like earlier, seeking any kind of lie or false truth with the intensity of a Demon King. This did not faze me in the slightest, returning her demanding stare with a blank one.

I did not turn away from her gaze for two reasons; the first was that I was quite used to being stared at by an Demon King equivalent, and trust me when I say Dana has that look down a lot better than Kitty ever will. The other reason is that the conversation was taking its toll on my emotions and memories. I had the face of a tired old man, and she was trying to search it for answers of her own.

"I don't believe it…" she finally said, her voice shaking much to my disbelief. _The Dark Evangel was shaken? By me? The only other times I have seen her flustered was when she was in my grandfather's or great grandfather's presence._

"There is more to the story." I told her, gently placing my hands on her shoulders and turned her away from me, hoping that her flustering would go away if I presented her with more knowledge. Instead of resuming the massage, however, I felt the strong urge to simply hug her and bury my head into her shoulder, an urge I unwilling gave into. Yukihime gasped at the rather startling action. Rather shocked from my sudden action, she started to wiggle rather nervously in my lap. She didn't make any moves to leave it so I assumed that it was her way of saying that it was okay for me to do this, embarrassing but she seemed to understand that this was as uncomfortable for me as it was for her. While her nervousness was based off of the rather unnatural action I made towards her, mine was the waves of emotion rising to the surface after hundreds of years of keeping them under wraps.

"Afterwards, after you had pieced yourself together and I had healed from my wounds, you told me who you were and we began walking towards the capital just as we are now. We spent some time stopping by that village we passed earlier, training at nearly every chance we had if we weren't walking, met Kuromaru, and convinced him to join us."

"…I see." Kitty said slowly, her voice unexpectedly low. She had also stopped fidgeting. Based on everything that I had told her, I had to say she was taking this pretty well, much better than I was and I was the one telling the story! Well, then again, I have been through a lot since those peaceful times and lost a lot of allies and friends whereas she can relate to my pain, having lived for as long as she has she must have lost plenty of friends over the course of her life.

"If you really are from the future, do you know what I was planning to do after we left here?" She inquired, a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment in her voice. Deciding I had showed enough weakness, I sat up and shook my head, already missing the spot between the nape of her neck and her shoulder. But it wouldn't do for me to rest my head on someone who was three hundred years younger than me. I wiped my eyes since they had gotten damp from the wetness of her skin, and answered.

"You were never planning on taking me and Kuromaru to the capital. You were taking us to a meeting point where you would try to get us accepted into UQ Holder." Eve started to fidget again once I finished my sentence. I just couldn't get over how emotional Kitty was. I have only seen her this nervous a few times, and it wasn't the kind of nervousness you would normally see on the battlefield and that was what was freaking me out. I wasn't going to let it visibly show and I would never tell her how much but it doesn't change that fact. Was she upset that I knew what her plans were? Was she uncomfortable having been found out? I attempted to reassure her by rubbing her head like I would a cat.

"I don't mind that you weren't taking us to the capital. In fact, I think I prefer your plans over mine." I told her, letting out a small laugh. "I met a lot of friends there and had quite a bit of fun, despite the monster pit you all but threw me into." I had previously pulled my arms away from her waist when I wiped my eyes but seeing how she was visible shaken from my telling her what she had planned for us, I wrapped them around her once again, this time I let my arms fall over her shoulders and clasped them around her chest just above where her towel hid her bust.

"A lot of things happened after that, so much so that it would be too much to wrap your head around so I will say this: I know my grandfather is alive and I know about the condition he is in."

"YOU KNOW ABOUT BOYA?" she all but screamed, removing my arms forcibly and jumping out of my lap to face me and see my face for herself. I was quite perplexed by this sudden change in behavior. She took this information differently than the rest. She was almost…violent? There were so many emotions running through her at the moment I couldn't exactly tell which one was the most prominent. I signed, knowing that this wasn't going to go well. I stood as well, not liking the cold feeling in the air.

"Not just Negi," I told her, "but Nagi too. Ialda as well. I know about all of them. Heh, kind of hard not to know about them seeing as all of them have plans for me." I rubbed the back of my head nervously, the same way I used to back when I was an ignorant little kid, silently gazing at the used to be renown Dark Evangel, reduced to an insecure little child with her mouth open so wide that I might have been able to fit my fist in it. Her eyes were no better off, enlarged as far as they could reasonably go. I was going to keep talking, ignoring her shock and going through with her initial request of wanting the truth but just as I was about to do just that, she interrupted me.

"What about Fate?" she asked, putting volume in her voice. I couldn't help but feel a little confused as to why should would bring up Fate. It also concerned me why I couldn't see her eyes anymore, her hair falling in the way.

"What _about_ Fate?" I asked, putting a little venom in my voice as I said his name, genuinely confused. Seeing that I didn't understand what she meant, she elaborated with more vigor in her voice, to the point where I began to unconsciously raise my guard.

"After everything you have told me and what has happened these last few days I can't help but believe everything you have told me so far. So, if you are from the future, then that means you encountered Fate, didn't you?"

"Yes...?" I replied, not feeling relieved in the slightest, my arms and legs slightly bent in case what I was thinking this was heading to came to fruition. Realizing I still had no idea what her point was she began to get more than just a little upset.

"Didn't he tell you his plan for saving Negi!?" she screamed, her voice filled with outrage and fear. _Oh, so that is what this is about._

"Yeah, he did." I told her, not once lowering my guard. In fact, the volume of her voice alone encouraging me to raise it even further. I almost didn't even have time to reply before she started yelling again.

"What do you think about it?! I am trying to see whether you agree with his plan or not!"

"What does it matter if I agree with his plan or not?" I replied, starting to get a very bad feeling from her. Once I felt the temperature begin to drop and see fog beginning to form, I knew that this was not going to be good.

Yukihime's towel was billowing in the cold air she was generating, her hair in a similar condition as she stared at me with…anger? Sorrow? Regret? "If you agreed with his plan and help him with it then I have no choice but to seal you away until I find a way to save him without making everyone immortal!"

My eyes widened at her statement. _This isn't good!_ I thought, my mind racing. _I knew it was too much for her to take all at once. She isn't even thinking straight anymore. She might actually try to seal me!_ My thoughts were approved by the words that were shouted out of the true vampire's throat.

 **"Lic Lac La Lac Lilac!** **Heed the Contract and Serve Me, oh Queen of Ice!"**

I recognized the language she was speaking as Greek and I didn't know how to speak it but still instantly recognized the words used in her spell. It was the same attack she used to defeat the Demon God Sakuna! The only reason I knew it was because I was watching the time observation mirror whilst training and saw how my grandfather lived his life. Does she intend to seal me forever!?

"Dammit Kitty!" I shouted above the billowing wind. "If you would have let me finish I would have told you I didn't agree with it!"

 **"** **Come, Unending Darkness, Eternal Glacier!"** _Dam it all, she isn't even acknowledging me! To make things worse, it takes a whole five minutes to unseal my magic power! I don't have enough to cast a counter spell big enough to block that! Worse yet, if I simply dodge, UQ holder will come to her immediate aid! She might even brand me as an out of control immortal, meaning I will be their enemy. Then everything will be ruined!_

I got in a defensive stance, bracing myself. At least I had tried, the hot spring had frozen to the point where I couldn't move my legs. What made matters even worse, Yukihime was chanting at a speed where I wouldn't have time to prepare my muscles for instantaneous movement to break myself out of this prison my legs were in. I literally only had one other option left that might get me out of this situation without being turned into an immortal popsicle, and it was one that would only make her condition even worse.

 **"** **Bring Death to All That Has Life, Eternal Rest!"**

 _Here it comes!_

" **The End of the World/Frozen Cosmos!"** The spell took only one millisecond to start, I could see and feel my body being frozen, as well as the areas around me that haven't already been frozen.

 _Now!_

I balanced the magics within me as fast as vampirically possible, making room for this new and foreign magic and shouted, "Ric Rac La Lac Maltac!" Almost instantly, I could feel the Black of Mars respond to my call.

"Im-impossible!" I heard Kitty shout over the wind. Seeing as I can hear her now, that means the wind is dying down. Makes sense seeing as all the magic that would have frozen me and the entire area was being absorbed into me. Once all of the magic energy was absorbed, a silence so quiet not even the sound Yukihime and I breathing could be heard. As the Black of Mars welcomed the ice magic, electricity began to spark around my body. Then, as suddenly as a flash of lightening, I jumped into the air as I was coated in the vigor of the greatest lightning ever known! It felt as if I was sticking something metal into a power outlet and just felt my first surge of electricity inside of me. The only difference was this surge of electricity came without the pain. My hair was now waist length and billowing from the power continuously moving across through my body. The black spikes that normally protrude from my body when I use Magia Erebea went from their original black to yellow, crackling just like the rest of my body. I looked over at the blond vampire who lost control of herself and attempted to seal me away in ice with a very annoyed and somewhat angry glare.

 **"** **Magia Erebea: Thunder in Heaven Great Vigor."**

The Dark Evangel was at a loss for words, that was plain simple. There was no shaking, no fidgeting, no digging the secrets I possess out of my eyes, nothing; she just gazed at me with honest to goodness shock, surprise, and wonder. I saw recognition dance in her eyes as she took in the sight of my naked body bathed in the glory of her former comrade's signature technique, covered only by the towel across my waist. In a small corner of my mind, I was grateful that the heat generated from this form didn't burn the towel into nothing and leaving me in the same state in which I was…born? Was I even born if I was essentially a test tube baby? I'll just go with being created and save me the headache.

"Pfft…hahaha haha! Hahaha hahaha!"

A noise broke me of out my thoughts as well as the silence that hung in the air. I directed my attention to the blond girl before me. She was laughing. A cheerful expression on her face, a blissful and elegant music dancing out of her mouth as she raised an arm and placed it on her forehead, bending back ever so slightly.

"Have you calmed down?" I asked, a smile also creeping its way across my own face, figuring that seeing me use the form that her former comrade used must have knocked some of sense back into her.

"Ha…ha…ha…yeah…I think I finally calmed down." She replied, her laughter subsiding as the sound of her voice tickled my ears. "What is with that stupid grin across your face?"

 _This…this is the girl I fell in love with._ I thought as I was emotionally swept away by the perfect image in front of me. Kitty's hair, the color of lemons, no longer wet or damp, hung limp across her snow colored skin. Her sky-blue eyes, as light as a sunny day, gazed into my own with the gentleness of a breeze across a forsaken meadow. Her smile making my heart jump without even trying. Everything about her as she was now made me fall in love with her all over again. How could I not have a stupid grin on my face?

Maybe…I can be a little selfish right now…

I let my hold on the magic weaken, the lightening coating my body dispersing into nothing as I lowered myself so I stood on the now frozen hot spring, a magic circle appearing under my feet. As I walked towards the girl the magic circle began to spin, descending into the ice. As the magic circle floated down, the frozen water resumed its previous state, returning into a warm and luxurious hot spring. Both of us, who previously stood on top of the ice, sunk into the bubbling water until our feet hit the bottom, the red circle I summoned dissipating now that its purpose was done.

A few more steps and I now stood in front of the Ice Princess.

"Hmm? What is it?" she asked, a confident smile still on her face.

My face was red. How has it been since I last did this? Oh yeah, a millennium. If I was wearing a shirt I would be pulling at the collar right about now.

I took a deep breath and placed my hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell." I looked deep into her eyes, the surprise of my using her full name evident on her face and shaking eyes. I channeled as much of my love into my eyes and voice as I possibly could. Taking another deep breath, I spoke again. "I love you. I love you and always have." As I continued to talk I found the words just flowing out of me like an unstoppable stream rushing towards a waterfall. "From the very first moment you entered my life I knew I wanted you, as a friend or as something more. Back when you first introduced yourself to me I didn't know how to act so I put on the cold shoulder and pretended to ignore you, when in actuality, I was always watching you. I wondered who you were, who were you to my parents, and tried to answer so many other questions in my mind it was stifling. I decided if I watched you I might get a better idea on the person you were. As the months went by I gradually found myself getting closer to you, to the point of me not knowing how I would have lived my live without you. Back when that bounty hunter attacked us and I saw you step in-between him and I my heart almost stopped. I didn't want you to die. I had no idea how I was going to live the remainder of my live. You can't imagine how happy I was when I not only found out that you wouldn't die, but I was now an immortal like you. To me, that meant we could continue being together for all eternity. Then as time went by I wanted to get stronger, strong enough to protect you and make you acknowledge me. Not soon after, Dana came to me and offered me strength. That was where _you_ first met _me,_ at Dana's place. I enjoyed the time we spent there, you helped me out with so much, despite not really knowing who I was. When you left for the last time and I saw you ruling as the Ice Queen, I broke the time observation mirror just to help you. It hurt me, physically hurt me, to see you like that. I don't want to ever see you like that again. I don't want to see you fight my grandfather or my great grandfather. I didn't want to see you get hurt ever again. I endured eight months of training under her in order to get strong enough to fight against my ancestors, in hopes of making you see the blue sky again. When that wasn't enough, I came back to the past and sought her out again, this time devoting the last millennium training with Dana to defeat them. All just for you."

I took another deep breath, my heart pounding harder than it ever has before. "I want to fight for you, I want to make you smile, I feel like I can tell you anything and you would always have that confident smile on your face no matter what I said, I…I want to show you the blue sky again."

I never once took my eyes off the beautiful girl before me, her hands covering her mouth as her tears fell down her face, glistening in the sunlight.

 _This feels…so right. Maybe its time…I do it seriously._

I removed my hands and took a step back, extending my right arm so it was parallel with my chest. Bending my fingers save my pointer finger, I closed my eyes and focused.

 **Ric Rac La Lac Miltac**

 **A Unus** **A** **nulus** **A** **d** **T** **e** **A** **mo** **R** **osa** **A** **urum** **C** **entrum** **B** **asis** **E** **t** **S** **anguis** **I** **aspis**

Five yellow beams of light erupted from my fingers, four of them went through the water and into the ground whilst the other one went _there_. I constantly repositioned my fingers, causing the beams of light to shift in the ground. Once a few seconds passed I turned my palm towards the sky. The beams of light faded and a molten golden liquid slithered its way out of the ground, moving towards Kitty. Realizing where exactly the liquid was travelling, Kitty outstretched her left arm, the golden ribbons moving accordingly towards their target. Both I and the Ice Queen watched as the ribbons wrapped themselves around and around, condensing. A few seconds later, the liquid stopped coming out of the water and a small amount of red liquid travelled out of the water and joined its golden friends.

Finally, the act was done. This is a day that I will never forget and I guarantee that Kitty will never forget today as well. The reason why I think that is, aside from me laying a lot of information on her that she was not able to easily believe, was because what I just did trumped everything else I did today.

Around her left ring finger, was a red ring with a red stone held up by red supports that seemed to come out of the ring itself.

I walked back to the flabbergasted female who simply stared at the ring in a dumbfound expression. Now that the action had been done, I felt amazing calm.

"The spell I just used is a one I custom made, more speaking with magic rather than a spell in my opinion but whatever the hell nowadays. That is not what you have questions about right now, am I right?" I grinned as she seemed incapable of uttering even a single word from the surprise and shock she was in. Her eyes, however, told me hurry and explain the weird phenomenon that was on her ring finger. I decided to use the best professional voice I could muster in hopes of teasing her just a little bit more.

"The ring itself is made out of pure painite, supposedly the rarest mineral on the planet, infused with my magic to increase its durability to the point where an immortal would have trouble breaking it. The gemstone is a 40-karot ruby, fifteen karats more than the Sunrise Ruby. I condensed and shaped it so it would be the same size as a normal ruby. I dub it: The Blood Ruby. Blood Ring to be exact since the ring is also red in color."

"T-T-Tou wh-what wh-h-hy is is th-is is th-?" I could only smile adoringly as she could barely form any tangible word. She continued stuttering as I grasped her hand and gently pulled her out of the water. Once we were out I decided to silence my beloved's stuttering and finally get to the point of all this build up.

I got down on one knee.

Her eyes were instantly locked on me, looking for any trace that this was all just a prank, not believing that this was actually happening.

"Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell." I took the hand that now possessed The Blood Ring. "Will you marry me?"

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	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Whew! Finally! Took me most of the day to write the second part of this chapter. To everyone wondering why I reposted some of the chapters, I combined two of every chapter I had into a singular chapter. I thought 5k words a chapter was a little small and I like longer chapters myself so, I made some longer chapters! Each chapter is now roughly 9k or more words. ALSO! THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THIS SERIES IS IN THIS CHAPTER A LITTLE LESS THAN HALFWAY INTO THE CHAPTER! LOOK FOR THE INSERTED LINE AND THAT IS WHERE THE NEXT PART OF THE STORY STARTS!**

 **R/R**

Chapter 4

 _I could only smile adoringly as she could barely form any tangible word. She continued stuttering as I grasped her hand and gently pulled her out of the water. Once we were out I decided to silence my beloved's stuttering and finally get to the point of all this build up._

 _I got down on one knee._

 _Her eyes were instantly locked on me, looking for any trace that this was all just a prank, not believing that this was actually happening._

 _"_ _Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell." I took the hand that now possessed The Blood Ring. "Will you marry me?"_

(Touta POV)

I waited for what seemed like an eternity. The longer this silence continued the more nervous I became, to the point where I was wiggling my toes out of fear, not wanting her to see the rest of my body shake in fear of rejection. I wasn't nervous earlier when I proposed, or anytime I proposed/confessed to her actually. Well, maybe this was because this was the first time that I took the proposal seriously, bearing my heart to her, giving her a ring, and performing a proposal as it should be performed. I now understood how many men felt when they proposed to their partners.

I never once dared to look away from those crystals that made up the blue of her eyes, fearing the worst if I did. She was breathing heavily, very heavily, to the point where I could visibly see her chest rise and fall from the oxygen intake. Regardless of the outcome today, it was guaranteed that neither of us would ever forget this day.

Kitty finally moved, shaking her hand out of my grasp and taking a step back. Then another. And another. All while tears dripped off of her cheeks, a single delicate hand covering her mouth and her head shook from left to right over and over again. I took this as a queue to stand. I did not advance, however; I continued to stand in the place where I told her how I truly felt, waiting for her verbal response, refusing to accept any answer that did not come directly from her mouth. It took more than several minutes for her to stop the tears as well as compose herself to a reasonable degree. She turned her back to me, seemingly to keep herself from losing what little composure she managed to regain in that short period of time.

"I assume you did something similar to the me of your future, did you not?" she asked out of shaken curiosity, her voice barely holding the sentence together.

"Never to the extent I just did, but yes, I have." I responded truthfully, scratching my arm to try to override my embarrassment.

"I see," she said, shifting her weight from foot to foot, "then you already know what I am about to say don't you?"

"Yeah, I do." I coughed into my fist, using a little bit of magic to modify my vocal cords temporarily. When I spoke again, my voice had changed to match that of Yukihime when she first told me. 'I still love Negi Springfield.'" I saw her jump a little bit in surprise from hearing her own voice whereas she was expecting my own. Interested, she turned to see a small rotating magic circle on my throat. 'He's still being held captive by my bitterest enemy. That was the price he paid for saving the world. Until everything about that has been resolved, I can't move forward, not even with you.'" After I finished quoting her I used Magia Erebia to absorb the magic circle on my throat and get my normal voice back, a small black dot forming on my neck as I willed the Black of Mars into action. "Then you kissed me and apologized."

She continued to gaze in my direction for a few seconds before shaking her head with a weary smile on her face. "I do not even know why I am still surprised by anything anymore after what has happened today. More or less, that does sound like something I would say, although I think I would have elaborated on it a bit more."

She decided to face me this time, rotating the rest of her body in my direction so that we were standing vampire to vampire. I looked at her facial expression and saw that she was dead serious. "So, what makes you think, despite knowing how I would respond, that I would change my mind now?"

 _This is it_. I swallowed anxiously and took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. When I breathed out my heart was still beating just as fast but I felt a little more relaxed than I did before; albeit just a little.

"Because I know that I am the one you fell in love with first." She raised her eyebrow, questioning my logic. I elaborated. "Back in my future, the memory seal you placed on yourself never got broken, so the memories of me from your life until you met Nagi were kept sealed so you never remembered me. But the one mistake you made with that plan is that you didn't rewrite the events that happened, you merely covered it up with magic. That means that I still made an impact on you and I did make you fall in love me, even if it wasn't intentional at the time. So, when you finally meet Nagi and then Negi, you became attracted to them due to how much they resembled me and you started looking at them as men, not as comrades. What would have happened if you didn't seal your memories and you finally meet me again?"

She said nothing, looking down at the water, not denying what I was implying. She started walking towards it and got back in it, seeking the warmth of the hot spring to relieve her turbulent thoughts. I did the same, taking a seat right next to her, making sure we were close enough that out skin touched. She did not move away from me so I took this as a good sign.

"Do you remember our time at Dana's place?"

It certainly took a few moments, but I saw her begin to grin at the recollection. "Yeah, the first time I saw you I was trying to kill that witch while she was sleeping." She chuckled.

I also began to grin. "Yeah, and the next time we met you were trying to do just that again. Then you collapsed out of hunger and drank my blood." I took in the beautiful sight of her cheeks beginning to brighten.

"I am still embarrassed that I actually gave in to my hunger and drank the blood of a complete stranger so please don't bring that up again." She muttered cutely. I couldn't help put laugh at her as she blushed from the memory.

"Okay okay." I replied with a slight tease in my voice. "The next few times we met I was hula hooping and balancing balls. You even helped me figure out what the training was for."

"You have no idea how ridiculous you looked doing that. If I remember correctly she had you doing thirty hula hoops at one point."

"Yeah, so you decided to give me more and tripled the amount I was previously doing!" Not even she could not laugh at that, her graceful voice tickling my ears once more.

"Hey, I was just trying to help you." She countered, a toothy grin gracing her angelic face. Momentarily forgetting my anxiousness, I also showed her my best smile.

That smile didn't last long. "And then you told me to kill you to end your suffering." I told her, her grin also fading as her face took on a solemn expression.

"I was genuinely tired of living a life where everyone I ever cared for died and left me alone. No matter how far I walked, no matter how long I wandered the planet I met very few people, not even one of them I considered my friends. They were acquaintances at the best of times but there were still nice to be around and happily pass the time with. Then I had to watch them die and leave me alone again, plunging me even deeper into despair. It was honestly a nightmare, a living nightmare."

"I know. I remember. I saw your memories while you were sleeping. You should remember that. Something about the boundaries of time being weaker while Dana is asleep. The same thing would have happened had I touched anyone that was sleeping. But I am glad that it was you."

"Oh, so that is how you saw them…wait…huh?" Kitty asked, bewildered, wondering what the hell I was talking about. "Why are you happy you saw my memories?" My answer was instantaneous, not even thinking what came out of my mouth.

"Because I was able to see what you had to go through while you were growing up." I answered. "It only made me more determined to bring you the blue skies that you deserved to see after living in that hell of a childhood."

"Touta…" Kitty gasped. I didn't look her in the eye. I averted my gaze into the water and began twiddling my thumbs, waiting for what she was going to say next. An awkward silence took over, the only wounds were the birds chirping. This was how it was for about five minutes, the both of us enduring it like some kind of trial.

"…yes…" I looked over at Kitty, my vampiric hearing barely picking up the sound I heard her mutter under her breath.

"I'm sorry," I told her, "what was that?" She turned away from me before I could notice the state of her face.

"…yes…" I heard another sound, a little louder than last time, but not by much.

"I still didn't catch that." I let her know, anxiety building up in me. Was she going to give me her answer to my proposal? My heart leaped into my mouth at the mere thought, my anxiety shooting through the roof.

When I placed my hand on her should to gently turn her around to face me, she suddenly spun around, catching me off guard and surprising me.

What she did next, however, figuratively blew me out of water.

She placed her palm on my cheek and spoke, "Yes. Yes, I will marry you."

I was stunned. I mean, out of all the times I proposed to her in my timeline and after enduring all of the refusals I finally got a yes? It didn't feel real, I was having a lot of trouble just wrapping my head around the three words I ever truly wanted. "Not a single thing that came out of your mouth was wrong." She continued, "If I never placed the seal on my mind I probably would have ignored Nagi and Negi until I saw you again. Back when I first saw you I didn't think that you were anything special, just another snot nosed kid that Dana managed to wrap around her finger. But that changed the moment you stepped in front of Dana when she tried to force me out., no…even before then. I knew I liked you ever since I saw you that second time. But when you successfully managed to block her attack and force her out of her own dimension… that was when I knew that you were the one, that was when I first realized I loved you. That was why it hurt all those years, decades, centuries when I couldn't see you. Then just as I was about to get rid of any hope I had left, you suddenly appear out of nowhere, coming to my aid and helping me when I didn't even remember to see you again. And my reaction to your help was to deny you and block you out of my head, and then you went ahead and even denied me that. Geez, there are not a lot of girls that like men who don't know when to give up."

There really wasn't anything I could say to any of that, you know, besides scratch the back of my head with a goofy grin on my face.

"Well," I started, trying to think of something witty to say, coming up with nothing and just said the first thing that came to mind, "I wouldn't do all of this just because of some girl. I did all of that because that girl was you. I love you and I always have." I confessed again, my cheeks no doubt a brilliant tomato red.

"…And I love you to." She innocently smiled at me with a flushed face, making my heart beat pound inside my chest like a Cherokee drum. I watched as she cupped my cheek in the palm of her hand and leaned over to me.

That was when I felt her lips on my own, a kiss that I never thought I would never have.

It hasn't hot and passionate by any means. It was a subtle, intoxicating kiss that lasted forever. Her lips were warm and soft, tasting like the freshest vanilla that I wanted to covet for all eternity. Her breath contradicted her lips, ice cold and refreshing as I felt her gasp as she took a momentary break from our long, slow kiss. When I felt her tongue slither out of those red, velvet-like lips and brush against my own seconds later, I could feel my head begin to fuzz over from the sheer sensation.

From the very first instant out lips touched I could tell. She was putting all of the emotion she had been repressing into this kiss. It was a kiss of longing, sorrow, happiness, anger, and so many other emotions I couldn't keep track of them all. I was almost overwhelmed by her acceptance of my proposal and the emotional kiss that I actually forgot I had a role to play in this kiss.

Seeing as that was not acceptable in the least, I straightened myself and wrapped one of my arms around her waist and the other I threaded through her hair, pulling her closer, wanting to feel her warmth against my chest. She groaned in appreciation, starting to apply a little bit more force behind her kiss, almost making my eyes roll into the back of my head. I reciprocated her increase in motivation, licking at her lips and fangs, requesting entry. She opened her mouth to grant me access, our tongues waging battle against each other, the both of us refusing to back down from this new and, rather invigorating, challenge.

After kissing for the longest time did we finally separate, our lungs begging for air. We didn't rest for long, however, going back at it with increased vigor not even a few seconds later. My hands, eager to explore her body, ran across her back, spine, arms, cheeks, neck, even her ears. It was as if I was trying to make a mental map of her body and my hands were what I drew with, eager to recreate the perfection that was Kitty inside my mind.

Speaking of whom, she was not any better than I was in this situation, mischievously exploring my body as if it was her first time touching me. Her hands brushed against my back, shoulders, arms, chest, abs, and hair with an expert touch, turning me on in the best way.

We were pushing ours bodies into one another, disapproving of any space that existed between us. Our tongues were wrestling with a ferocity we didn't know the other had. Pleased by what we were discovering, we wanted to know more about the other.

 _More… I need more._

We separated once again, our chests visibly rising as we panted to regain out breath. We did not so much as say a word to each other, just longingly gazing into each other's eyes, neither of us satisfied in the least.

My eyes, wanting to see more than just those beautiful sapphires, traveled across her face and taking in her elegant, childish jawline, slowly following her tempting neck down, taking in her collarbone and casting a fleeting glance at her shoulders and…

I gulped. I continued to stare for a second longer before looking back up at her face. Judging from the way she held my gaze for a fraction of a second before looking away, she knew what I wanted. I could tell that she was thinking the same thing I was, if her fleeting glances were anything to go by.

I wanted to but I wasn't sure what she was going to say and I damn well didn't want to say it out loud and risk hearing her voiced displeasure. Seemingly reading my thoughts, with a deeper shade of red across her cheeks, she reached for my hand. Grasping it, she guided it towards a certain spot on the opposing side of her figure.

The spot where her towel was folded in on itself.

I stared at the spot she placed my hands, my eyes widening at the implication of what her actions meant. Looking down to see her face, I saw her look back up at me. With an open and honest smile, she gave a small peck on the lips and nodded, reaching for the same spot on my own towel.

We were both quite hesitant for the other to see us in out birthday suits, I didn't have anything Kitty has never seen before, but then again, she never saw me pitching the tent before! Likewise, she has shown me her body plenty of times before…her older form's body that is. I have not once seen what she looks like without taking those magic aging pills or whatever the hell they were called.

I wanted to see what she really looked like.

I hooked my finger into the small gap in her towel at the same time she did mine. We both looked at each other one last time for a final confirmation that we were really going to do this. Seeing that she wasn't expressing any denial and I sure as hell wasn't, we had each other's approval.

With a nervous swallow and a lick of my lips I finally started to pull at her towe-

 **Clank!**

A sound. Like rocks smashing together.

The both of us, shocked and surprised, instantly looked in the direction the sound came from, leaping away from each other as if we kids with cooties with each of us holding our loosened towels up to make sure nothing showed.

Over by the cliff, Kuromaru had his arms and shoulders stabilizing his position on the edge of elevated land we stood on. His eyes were locked on the both of us and his mouth was moving but no sounds emerged. He had obviously been watching us for quite a while; his face was beat red and I could see the bottom of his arms starting to turn white from the lack of blood running through that specific part of his arm from being pressed into the ground for so long.

"Kuromaru~" I smiled at him, the way I was feeling and the bloodshed oozing towards the immortal indicating that the reason why my lips were curled up in what normally was an expression of happiness was anything but. The black-haired swordsman emitted a high pitch squeal upon watching fearfully as I cracked my knuckles quite loudly.

Or…not? Our unexpecting and soon to be traumatized third wheel was looking behind me. And, after seeing what was behind me, I too would be squealing in fear.

What was once a cute little blond girl was now a pissed off vampire, complete with claws, one and a half inch long fangs, hair that was once wet was now dry and slowly billowing from the updraft caused by the increase in magic energy escaping her body. _Oh, did I forget to mention that she already cast the Sword of Retribution and was now charging our new recruit with an outrageous amount of bloodlust!?_

Deciding that I needed this to feel better about myself, I sidestepped her advance and watched as Kuromaru scrambled to jump off the cliff before getting struck with the burning/freezing blade of his certain doom. Luckily for him, he managed to jump off and dodged the sword by less than a hair's breadth. Watching this, my anger didn't fate, oh no, not that easily. I just decided that it would be more fun to get payback later on when he least suspects it.

"Whoop, not so fast." Kitty was about to jump off and continue to give chase. Moving quickly, I wrapped my arms around her waist, catching her mid leap and dragging her backwards a bit, much to her protest.

"Touta! What are you doing!? He saw us! I swear I will make him pay for peeping on us! I won't be satisfied until I kill him at least a few thousand times!"

 _As good as that would be to train his regeneration factor, I would rather you not do that just yet._ I thought, deciding to calm her down by being the bold one this time. I put her on the ground and before she could run after him I gave her a good peck on the lips to get her attention.

"Huh?" she asked dumbly when I pulled away a few seconds later, confused for the sudden intimate action.

"I got an idea on how to deal with him." I got closer to her ear and whispered what I had planned. When I pulled way, her signature smile was in full force.

"One of these days I am going to find out how you know that…and I would love to see that happen." I mimicked her smile to the best of my ability.

"And I would love to see your reaction when that finally happens. But I need you to hold back a bit and let me deal with it." I warned her lightly.

"I-I can do that, obviously." She stuttered, obviously seeking her personal brand of retribution.

"Oh really?" I slurred, raising an eyebrow. She said nothing, deciding to play with her hands and whistle rather than answer. A few entertaining exchanges later I had an epiphany. "Hey Kitty, shouldn't we be visiting the rest of UQ Holder soon?"

Her eyes widened, and her breathing hitched. Then, suddenly, a dust cloud had taken the place of my wife. Looking in the direction she ran, I heard a few curses being muttered under her breath. "Damn, you are right. We can make it in time if we try." I heard her say, guessing she was getting dresses as fast as she could without destroying her clothes.

"Heard and acknowledged, princess." I said, still feeling giddy from our make out session. Enjoying this feeling, I performed a dramatic backflip off the cliff.

"What did you just call me!?" I heard her screech, most likely in embarrassment.

I couldn't help but laugh as I feel through the air. This was going to be fun.

 _Now to test how strong I have become against the best of UQ Holder. And I know just the person for the job._

 _You better come at me like you mean it Karin. Whether you like it or not, here I come! I am not a wimpy kid anymore. I will make you acknowledge who is better for Yukihime…me!_

* * *

We were running. Yukihime, in her adult form, and Kuromaru and I were fully dressed, despite the torture they went through as us immortals almost tore our own clothes apart just trying to get them in we were in such a hurry; Kuromaru unintentionally showing off multiple red marks on his face. Apparently, Kitty headed my wishes…for the most part. When I wasn't looking, she managed to get a few slaps in, much to the former Immortal Killer's dismay, but I pulled him away and explained why we were treating him this way, much like a father would to his son after dishing out his castigation.

We were not that far away from the designated meeting point in the first place, it was only a hop, skip, and a jump away for an immortal with any form of speed. Only problem was, Kitty values punctuality quite highly among those that she gathered. If she did not set an example for her organization and demonstrate the perfect punctuality she demanded, how would the members react? By asking her questions about what made her late. And I can't have anyone asking questions that might throw her off of her groove any more than she already is.

I took a quick glance over at her face. She was wearing a stoic expression, her eyes, lips, and facial features not giving anything away. With that mask on, she could easily act as she always had and not have her subordinates pester her with unneeded questions. This was a very good thing. No matter how good a mask she was wearing, however; it didn't change the fact that I mentally rocked her world today, and that is putting it on a mundane level. Under her skin, I knew her emotions were still running rampant.

I faced forward once again, shaking off any worry I had. Yukihime has been living for seven hundred years, she is strong. "Looks like this is the place," I announced. Taking in our surroundings and verifying that this was indeed our destination, we started putting on the breaks, moving out of super speed and slowing into a stop exactly where we were standing the first time around.

"Just in time too it seems," Yukihime stated, looking off into the distance. I followed her gaze to see a bunch of black vehicles heading to our location.

"Good thing I remembered," I said, "otherwise you would have lost your perfect punctuality record." I teased, elbowing her in the waist. She didn't show in exterior change to my statement, much to my disappointment. I liked getting a rouse out of the blond beauty.

"Can someone explain to what is going on here?" Kuromaru exclaimed, drawing our attention.

"Oh yeah, we never told you did we?" Yukihime asked. She turned to face the man who spoke and crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto her left leg. "Once upon a time, there was this man who had an idea about gathering all of the immortals together and making a team out of them. I was friends with this person and this is what we created." Just as she ended her sentence, one of the vehicles we were watching sped up and traveled right at us going at speeds most cars on the market would be envious of, spinning in circles the entire way.

I knew who was in that vehicle. Also knowing what was going to happen if I continued to stand here, I jumped backward a bit, the car coming to a halt where I was previously standing. If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn that Karin told the driver to hit me on purpose…wait a minute I don't know better. _Did she tell the driver to hit me!?_

Putting that thought aside, I walked back to my wife's side…wife…wife…

 _I got red just thinking of the word! What am I, some kind of pure maiden?_

Shaking my head, I watched as a brown-haired man, whom I haven't bothered to learn the name of, step out of the vehicle and address his superior.

"Mistress Yukihime," he spoke, "We have come to-" Before he could finish his sentence, a girl stepped out of the car, bumping his aside and interrupting him. The girl had black hair that was not even neck length, wore what looked like some kind of red school uniform, complete with black socks that traveled up some of her thighs and brown shoes.

"We have come to get you, Yukihime-sama." Karin stated with a professional tone. Gaze never leaving her leader, she strode up to her with confidence and got on her knee, similar to how I was not even minutes ago. "I waited so long for the day we would meet once more." _It's been two years compared to my one thousand Karin! You are five hundred times to early to be saying something even close to that!_ I exclaimed in my head, irritable that two years makes her bend her knees. Makes you wonder what she would do if she were in my shoes…

I glanced over at…my wife…to see no evident change appear on her face, save for a single drop of sweat drip down the back of her neck. Well, she did change her facial expression into one of exasperation.

 _She is trying so hard to keep her mask on…_

The sound of multiple engines and car doors opening ceased my thoughts, so many people exclaiming that it actually hurt my ears a bit. They were all coming over to us, every single one. I started to get very, very anxious.

All of them…

Men in black…

Black…

Black fist…

Lots of black fists…

Dana's fists.

Dana's fists…coming straight at me!

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. My head swiveled, expecting to see yet another one of Dana's hands, preparing to throw me into the array of punches. What I saw, however, was a blond angel looking at me with worried eyes.

"Touta, are you okay?" As soon as she spoke, I knew something was wrong with me. I looked down at my hands and saw them shaking, fists clenched to the point of my hands were bleeding. I loosened the tension in my fists and watched my hand regenerate at speeds I wasn't used to seeing. I took in my surroundings. The black fists that were coming at me were gone, instead, I saw the worried looks of the grunts of UQ Holder, as well as Karin looking at me out of the corner of her eye, accessing me as if I was some kind or threat. Kuromaru had also took a step back and was eyeing me cautiously, as if I might explode any minute. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, realizing that I had shrunk into a stance and was letting off a small amount of bloodlust, trying to loosen up.

"Yeah," I responded, sounding tired. "I think I am alright. Just having a flashback is all." I saw her raise an eyebrow at my statement, but, to my great relief, she didn't comment further.

"And who are these two, Yukihime-sama?" Karin asked, standing to face me and Kuromaru completely, giving me a dead stare with an expressionless face. Yukihime placed a hand on my shoulder.

"This is the charge that I have been looking after for the last two years. His name is Touta Konoe. Due to some incidents we ended up having to live together so we are pretty close. When everyone came running to me, you made him a little nervous and he got ready to defend himself. There was an incident not long ago and, as you have seen, he is not really trusting of large numbers of people. Try to be nice to him. The other one is a fellow immortal we picked up on our way here." She finished with a smile as she addressed the crowd.

I couldn't help but feel a little awed at the explanation Kitty gave them for my little…episode lets call it. It wasn't entirely wrong and had some truth in it, making it easier to say to others and not unconsciously look or sound guilty while doing so.

"I see," she responded, not changing her expression…as she pulled out a hammer from God knows where! She pointed her hammer towards me and spread her legs to shoulder width, taking a stance. "To have such an enviable posi- *cough* that is, to be such an outrageous person, I shall kill you where you stand."

After recovering from my flashback for about a minute, I was feeling a lot better, to the point where I was comfortable exchanging word play and, actually, in the mood for a small skirmish.

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought Yukihime said to be nice to me? How is intimidation, which is a punishable crime in some places, your way of being nice?"

"I have two responses to your question," she stated, not once lowering her hammer. "My first response is that, by giving you a painless death, Yukihime-sama will not be anguished by you screaming in pain. My second response is, seeing how you call her 'Yukihime' and not 'Yukihime-sama' you deserve nothing but death."

 _If you think in-proper address should be punishable with death then wait until you see the ring Kitty is wearing underneath that camouflage magic she cast on it._ Indeed, when I was looking at her while we were coming here, I noticed that she wasn't wearing her ring. Naturally, I grew worried and looked a little bit harder and, using a spell that allows you to see what normally can't be seen called 'True Sight', saw that she had never taken it off, but hid it with magic. Very smart decision in my opinion. The last thing we need is for everyone to know that we are married.

 _Speaking of which I better start making some arrangements and get some preparations ready…_

I gave a helpless shrug and looked over to my bride-to-be, since we haven't had the official ceremony performed yet, and gave her a small smile. "Seems like it can't be helped," I told her. "I guess I am going to start the initiation test early."

The blond vampire let out an exasperated breath of air. "I suppose so. Well, I will let you two get to it. Just take it somewhere with no people around." She told us.

I grinned and raised an eyebrow, implying that that was obvious.

"Allow me to verify." Karin interrupted, lower her hammer and walking towards me, getting intimately close in my private space. "Not only do you not show respect for our leader, you also intend to join us?" Her voice was still the same neutral tone that she first spoke to us with, but I could feel the frustration and anger building up inside of her. I did not back down and gave her the answer I knew would annoy her the most, feeling just like a kid again.

"That's right." I retorted, the fattiest grin on my face.

To my great satisfaction, she gave me the best glare she could possible manage and just walked away.

 _1-me. 0-you._ I thought, giving her the victory sign inside my head.

 _Will you be all right?_ I heard a voice say. It sounded like Kitty's voice. I turned my attention to her and watched as she began conversing with the brown-haired man in the tuxedo that we first saw exit the car, telling them they should start getting back to work. She didn't look like she had just asked me a question. Then again, she did know how to perform telepathy…

Oh, so that is it.

 _Ya, I'll be fine._ I said inside my head, knowing the connection was still there. _I needed to get a good warm up anyway. Its been ages since I fought anyone that wasn't Dana._

 _YOU FOUGHT AGAINST DANA?_ She mentally exclaimed. _Oh, wait. Now that I think about, you did say something like that when you proposed to me. That reminds me, when you get done here, meet me in my room. I assume you know where it is?_

 _Ya, I know where it is,_ I verified.

 _Glad to hear it. But be careful,_ she warned me. _She isn't Dana by a long shot, but Karin is powerful. She isn't a number just for show. Don't underestimate her._

 _Kitty, I know how strong Karin is. That is why I am looking forward to this. She is strong enough to get my blood pumping and keep me entertained for a while. I also know about her immortality so it's not like I will give her any lasting damage. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to rough her up a bit. There is some venting I need to do for some stuff she did to me in the past._

 _Oho? And what, pray tell, would that be._

 _Well, one is her holier-than-thou attitude that used to drive me absolutely bonkers. Secondly, for hitting me in the head with her hammer once upon a time. Lastly, I need to repay her for scrubbing my back with one of those long ass push brooms. That fucking hurts!_

 _Hahahaha. Yeah, that is just like you, holding grudges through time and space itself, and always finding some way to repay the favor. In that case, have fun._ I noticed that she was getting into the vehicles with the rest of the boys. Just as I was about to face Karin again, I had an idea that might be useful latter.

 _Wait a minute. Could you make sure to send another pair of clothes for Karin? Her body is undamageable, her clothes, however, are not._

 _Hmm. Yeah, good point. I will make sure to send you something. Just let me know where you guys are and I will send it to your location once you need it._

 _Gotcha._ With that, the vehicles pulled away, leaving me together with the moody hammer user.

"If you are done saying your goodbyes, follow me. I will take you to a place where we can have your…test." She turned away from me and sped off at super speed. Grinning like a maniac, I followed suit, easily catching up to her within the span of a single second.

We ran side by side through various terrain: plains, valley, tall grass, woodsy area, hills, we ran past cities, we ran past towns, through flatland and through a few lakes. After running for a little while, we came to the ocean. Glancing over at my soon-to-be opponent to see if we were stopping, I saw that she was looking dead ahead, not intention of stopping. So, we continued to run until out feet hit the water and, without wasting stride, sped off on it; running across the liquid body as if it was solid, our feet splashing ever so slightly on the ocean below. We both powered through one of the five oceans as I continued to follow Karin to our unknown destination. After what seemed to be hours of running, did she finally stop. I skimmed to a halt, making a medium sized wave as I slid to a stop; silently casting 'Fly' so I could stand, hover rather, on the water while Karin supported herself by casting a magic circle under herself.

"Do you know where we are?" was the first thing that left Karin's mouth. Slightly curious about our location, I took a look around. I could see nothing but water, even with my vampirically empowered vision.

"Nope," I answered. "Not at all."

Karin took out her hammer and pointed it out and motioned around us while she spoke. "This is the Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle. This is a famous fighting arena for almost all immortals on the planet. While humans use these waters to deliver products to one another, we use these waters to test each other and handle disputes of great importance. On occasion, some of the immortals get carried away and smash into a nearby boat or get sent flying and knock an airplane out of the sky. Needless to say, once this happens we immediately vacate the vicinity, postponing the match until a later date."

I frowned and folded my arms, flabbergasted by what I just heard. "Okay~…let me get this straight. We ran halfway around the world to the Bermuda Triangle, a place where immortals handle very big disputes and humans consider to be full of paranormal activity, which is also true, seeing that you yourself just admitted to it, to handle an administration test for the immortal family UQ Holder?"

"That is correct." She replied, not denying my assessment of the current situation. "I am glad that you are aware of the situation. I dislike having to explain myself more than once."

Ignoring that last complement, I exclaimed loudly. "How is some stupid admittance test remotely close to any kind of big dispute?"

In response, she shook her head solemnly, much to my annoyance. "This is a matter of great importance." She corrected me, her hammer raised over her shoulders, squatting while she did so.

I could not hide my surprise from the look in her eyes. The red-robed woman glared in my direction with a mighty rage. "Touta Konoe," her voice rang out with unhidden ferocity. "In order for you to enter UQ Holder, you must defeat me. But, before we begin the test, let me make this clear: I don't like you, I don't want you in UQ Holder, and I don't want you anywhere near Yukihime-sama! I will destroy you so completely that you will wish for death!" She kicked off, dead on sprinting, my face full of outright shock.

 _Jesus! Where did this come from all of a sudden? Is this what she was really thinking when we met the first time around? Does my being near Kitty make her so upset it draws out this much aggression out of her?_

Sticking close to the water, I sidestepped her advance, hands in my blazer pockets. She put her foot down, halting her advance, swinging her hammer at my head, seriously attempting to remove it. I bent backwards and watched as it sailed harmlessly over me, deciding to put my turbulent thoughts aside.

Suddenly, I felt my feet get pushed out from under me. I was using 'Fly' so I didn't fall…that is, until Karin lowered her hammer down upon my abdomen, my body crashing through the water, speeding through it like a bullet leaving the chamber of a gun. Not at all stunned by the impact, I let my body be pushed deeper into the ocean as Karin broke through the surface and followed me in pursuit. She once again struck my stomach, the force behind her blow sending me deeper into the large mass of spice water.

Feeling like this battle was going to be taking place underneath the water for a while, I exhaled the air in my lungs, inhaling the blue liquid into my lungs. Having to adjust to the strange sensation of having water in my lungs and not breathing, Karin struck me several supplementary times. Before I knew it, I collided with something, kicking up a huge cloud of brown.

Still on my back, I punched the water in front of me, my strength pushing the water away from me and making a hole in the upturned ground material, trying to establish where my opponent was. Upon finding her location, I sped through the water and began my counter attack, speeding towards Karin like a torpedo. We collided, sending her down into the ocean floor this time, kicking up another cloud of sand and feces and carcasses.

Deciding to repay her for taking us down here, I punched the water in front of me multiple times, each punch carrying water into the sand cloud, making it bigger and bigger as each one met its target.

Being forced a stop, I was abruptly halted by one annoying hammer.

I retaliated with a kick to her hip.

We exchanged blow after blow, punch after punch, strike after strike, the female integrating her hammer into her fighting style.

I was getting bored of having the aquatic substance slowing my movements. Dodging an overhead hammer strike, I grabbed the collar of the loyal follower's shirt and swam for the surface, dragging her against her will.

Breaking the surface, I threw her into the gray expansion above, clouds rolling in. Still using 'Fly' I quickly caught up and struck out at her midriff, sending her higher.

Using her magic circle, she caught herself and slowed to a stop, not before I was on her again, letting loose a flurry of attacks.

She dodged, blocked, knocked aside, and countered most of my attacks, but some slipped under her guard, not like you could tell.

Shaking me off, she retreated, venturing a safe distance away whilst laboring large breaths.

Gurgling the water out of my lungs and spitting it out, I spoke. "Have you calmed down yet?" I inquired on her sanity, the salty feeling in my lungs not going away, much to my annoyance.

I received no response aside from a hardened growl. "I will take that as a 'no'."

"Hmph," spoke the cursed individual, "I will admit that you are stronger than you let on. Your battle sense is remarkable, your instincts impeccable, and your fighting style is amazing."

 _Seems like I earned her respect, if only as an ally._

"However, while I have no qualms over you joining UQ Holder after witnessing your combat prowess, I simply cannot let you stand beside Yukihime-sama." She persisted, face as unreadable as ever. "Comply with my demand and I shall report that you have passed the test."

 _But it seems she isn't all the way there yet…_

The winds were beginning to grow vehement, gusting and blowing in our faces. Similarly, the waters below began to crash and rise in response to the accelerated breeze. Facing the sky, the clouds grew dark and small flashes of light sparked the surroundings, lasting not even a second, followed quickly by a thunderous boom.

"Yukihime told me a little bit about you." I proclaimed loudly, my un-zipped fabric billowing in an intricate pattern, almost as if it was dancing to an unheard melody. "That you cannot be injured and suffer no physical harm."

Her eyes hardened and lips furrowed, hands tight around her weapon of choice. "What of it?" she asked rather harshly, perhaps disliking the fact that one of her secrets was told to her 'enemy'.

"Don't you think that having to fight you is just a little bit cheap?" I inquired, hardening my voice to notify her of my change in attitude. "The normal test is for one of the Numbers to engage in combat against a new recruit and, if the recruit can land a single blow, they are admitted. I know that much. However, I have to fight someone who, even though I landed some heavy hits, shows no evidence of anything of the sort. In addition, you can simply deny that I ever landed a blow on you in the first place, thus ensuring that I cannot join UQ Holder and staying away from your precious 'Yukihime-sama'."

She grimaced, eyes lowered and teeth bared, almost as if she was some type of wild animal. I was not intimidated, thinking it was rather sad that her plan was to fight me and attempt to wear me out and then report back to her commander and lie in her face.

"Well, now that you know I know what your plan is, why don't you tell me a little about myself?" Karin's stance slackened ever so slightly, astonishment evident upon her features as she took in what I conveyed to her. "Do not continue to play me for a fool. Despite your attempt at sabotaging my entry, you are an experienced veteran who has been living for at least several centuries. You can learn quite a lot from your opponent in a fight. Now tell me what you learned."

There was a speck of silence that hung in the air like a heavy fog. The obnoxious thunder and lightning of the storm above didn't keep it that way for long.

Something softly landed on my head. Then another. And another. This did not brighten my mood, rather hoping to keep my now dried clothes water free.

"I can that you have been well-trained." Karin began, loosening her grip on her weapon of choice, letting it slide downward some ways. "Your master must truly be a monster for you to have acquired such techniques. You have also lived for several centuries… same as I have. You lost something… that means a lot to you… and have endured hardship that others would simply never place upon themselves, all to achieve one goal. To get back what you lost. But you already got it back…but feel like it isn't enough…"

Feeling confident that the fight has been briefly paused, I floated over to her side, stopping a few inches away from her.

The rain was getting heavier. Both of our clothes, once dry, became wet again as the sky continued to cry on us.

There was water on Karin's face, her features hidden. Wanting to get a closer look, I leaned in, the immortal female turning away, not meeting my gaze. I placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to pull her back to me. Upon contact, I stopped. Her body was shaking.

This perplexed me greatly. It wasn't all that cold out, despite our being wet and the wind wafting over us. I once again attempted to face the girl, once again failing to do so via not meeting my gaze. The bottom half of her face still in view, I closely observed what I could. Her face was wet and streams of water feel down her cheeks, down her throat, and down into her cleavage.

 _Wait a minute_.

I reached out and wiped one of water lines onto my finger, tasting it.

Salty.

She was crying.

"Why are you crying?" Was the obvious notion to take in this scenario, my mind coming up blank as I failed to think of a reason why Karin, UQ Holder Number 4, was weeping before an opponent.

"Who was it?" she asked, ignoring me. Obviously, Karin was in distress. She was remembering something, that much was certain. I just couldn't figure out what. "Was it Eos? Helios? Maybe Athena? Who was it!?"

I was forced away as she thrust me away from her, more questions in my head with no answers for any of them.

"What do you mean who?" I asked, bewildered.

"You know exactly what I mean!" She screamed, grasping her hammer with unrelenting fury, shouting to the heavens.

I was blinded. One second I am questioning the follower's sanity and the next thing I know she is admitting so much light I had to turn away for fear of being blinded. Just as I did so however, I felt impact across my cheek.

Unable to respond in time, I got sent flying. Less than a second later, another impact. Then another…and another.

Soon, I was being pelted with strikes that I previously thought beyond the fourth's capability. Unlike when our battle began, these attacks hurt.

They actually hurt.

I could do nothing to defend myself, blinded and taken by surprise. The only thing I could do was cover the areas that would be harder to regenerate and endure.

"Who was it!? Apollo? Anyanwu? Yhi? Surya? Etain? Olwen? Horus? Athena? Atum? Ra? Hyperion? Ushas? Amaterasu? Sol? Koyash? Athena? Helios?" With each name she listed off, I was struck. With each second name, bones broke. With each third name, a part of my body was destroyed, regenerated in less than half a second but still. She was in a fury of abandon, loosing all grace her previous fighting style had as she simply lashed out at me.

Finding the smallest of openings, I reached out and grasped the damned hammer, striking at what I hoped was her hands as hard as I could.

"Tch." The light began to dim, Karin temporarily retreating. The hammer still in my hand, I opened my eyes slightly to test the waters. Comfortable, I opened my eyes all the way and saw a star not that far away from my current position.

 _So that is what Holy Light looks like. That must have been her Holy Hammer, a technique that uses Holy Light while wielding a hammer. Can't say I've ever had the honor of seeing something like that._

I could see her clearly now. Her entire form has donned a white aura, making her clothes appear closer to pink then red and her hair more indigo than black. There were three halos that surrounded her, one around her calves, one around her waist, and one over her head, her clothes billowing under the power her new form gave her.

Now to get some answers. "Now that I have room to speak: why are you listing off light gods from various mythologies?" I demanded vehemently, wondering what the fuck set her off like that. She was never like this in my timeline.

"Like you don't know!" she shouted angrily. "I can tell! The amount of hardship that you put yourself through could only be caused by a god! So, which one was it!?"

 _They say nobles are equivalent to Demon Kings but Dana is more Demon God equivalent than an actual God._

"Hmm, let's just say I sought the help of a certain Demon God who was willing to train me." I voiced my thoughts, leaving the majority of the story to her imagination.

Karin did not take this information lightly. Her eyes widened, pupils constricted, and her Holy Light faltered, a sign that she was mentally shaken. Her entire being literally spoke disbelief.

"You…you were trained by a…Demon God?" she asked, speaking slowly, as if speaking one wrong word would incur my wrath.

"And what about you? Listing all of those gods off the top of your head. I'm guessing you were trained by God of Light?"

She seemed to be drawn back out of her thoughts as she resumed speaking to me with the same kind of attitude. "No, I did not get trained by someone as low as a Light God! The reason I am like this is because I drew the attention of someone much higher…"

I raised an eyebrow. "Higher than a god?" I began to think of beings that could possibly be higher than gods.

 _The only things that comes to mind is are the Old Gods. Then again, in Greek mythology, the gods were born from the titan of time, Chronos. But I can't think of anything else that could possibly be above…_

 _Light Gods?_

 _Higher?_

 _Old Gods…_

 _Titans…_

 _!_

 _…Creators._

 _The Creator of Light._

"The Creator of Light, Horakhty." I spoke the name aloud in shock and awe. The look of Karin's face when the name escaped my lips only verified it. "Horakhty is the one who made you immortal?"

"Immortality is such a loose word for the definition of what I am." Was her response, sorrow unhidden. "I am 'unchanging'. Forever stuck. My body will never change. You can cut me, blow me up, and even pierce me, my body will remain intact without so much as a scratch.

I feel everything. Once upon a time, I was deemed a witch and brought to the guillotine. Their shock when I didn't die was almost funny. Since then, my village sought all kinds of ways to try to kill me, everyday for a whole year. When they found that I could not be killed, the resorted to abuse, discrimination, neglect, sexual humiliation, some even had the nerve to rape me since I am forever a virgin, no matter how many men were forced on me. My body doesn't change, and that included my hymen. They did all of that and more for at the very least a decade."

"But why would Horakhty make you unchanging in the first place?" I asked.

"Because I was already going to be put to the guillotine. My father was already married to a woman but had sex with a widow. So, the village council gathered and deemed us unfit for the world because we were born outside of wedlock. They killed my mother the day before. On the day of my execution, I prayed to the highest god I knew to spare my life. I put my entire soul behind that prayer, fearing death."

"And you prayed to Horakhty, who was moved to the point of granting your wish and making you an eternal miracle." I concluded.

"…" She did not deny my claim, instead turning away from me once again.

I couldn't say anything.

I literally couldn't say anything. I mean, what could I say? My one thousand years of training was physically and mentally taxing sure, but I asked for it. Plus, I had to do what I did for Kitty and everyone else. She didn't have a choice. She only asked to have her life spared. Out of all the ways a god can influence the mortal realm, The Creator of Light decided to bless her with Holy Light, a light so bright and pure that it was eternally unchanging?

I finally understood why she always said that her being loved caused her despair.

"And that is when Yukihime-sama saved me." She turned once again, her eyes red from the now nonexistent tears, hard with resolution, the Holy Light beginning to grow brighter with each word she spoke. "Just as I was about to give up and start selling myself to stop the torture, she came out of nowhere, took one look at me, and helped me leave that hell of a village, freezing anyone who attempted to stop us. Yukihime-sama saved me! She is my Hero! My Savior! _My Everything!_ And I will be damned if I let some no name little boy from some no name Demon God try to take her from me!"

She rose her arm into the air. The hammer in my hand flew out of my grasp and returned to its master's side. The Holy Light that encased her body began to grow violently, moving away from her and condensing around the hammer, the hammer growing in size and becoming a large mass of white light.

I watched as one of the halos surrounding her body disappeared, the hammer suddenly growing ten sizes larger.

 _So the halos represent the amount of Holy Light she has. And she is sending all of the Holy Light into the hammer for one, final attack._

I felt sorry for her. I truly did. But what she said…the way she said it…

Pissed me off.

 _Guess its time for me to stop holding back._

"Rgg…rrrrrraaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA **AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"**

"!?" I didn't notice Karin's response to my roar or anything she may or may not have said. I was trying not to get devoured by the darkness. Not wanting to open the seals and literally send out a beacon to my grandpa that glowed with neon lights' I am here', I dived deeper into the black magic, becoming one with the madness.

" **Do not think that you are the only one who has experienced hardship, Yuki Karin!"** My voice had become dual layered. One of the layers was my normal voice. The other was a deeper voice that represented the madness that Magia Erebea induced when it corrupted the soul.

The black gauntlets that normally occupy my transformation materialized instantaneously, but didn't stop there. The sigils that accompanied the transformation sprouting just a short distance behind me, spreading like wings. My canines sharpened and my clothes inverted. I felt the magic creep into my eyes, changing the white to black and my iris to white.

The new, incomplete armament was on. Now, to gain another power for my fight against Ialda.

I began chanting in Latin, " **Qui facti sunt et qui manducat me in tenebris lumen auferat. Cum potestas magica nigra, et facti sunt malleo percutit, quod angeli in caelis et pulsat super genua sua** **!"**

As I chanted, a black mass materialized in my hand, growing at the same rate as her hammer, which has taken another halo away from Karin's body, now twenty times its original size.

That black mass took on the shape of a hammer identical in every way to my opponents.

Precious seconds later, our attacks were ready, all three of the girl's halos gone and both our hammers thirty times the size of Karin's original hammer.

Neither of our supersized weapons we held in our appendages, the tips of the handles floating some ways above our bodies.

In unison, with our arms stretching towards the sky, we brought them down with intent of defeating our enemy.

"Holy Hammer!"

 **"Hellborne Hammer!"**

Both of our weapons, one the color of creation, the other the color of the end, descended upon the other. It was no time at all before the two met.

 **BOOM!**

The clouds above disintegrated, the force of impact so great, the storm became nonexistent and the waves below parted, effectively cutting the entire ocean in half.

Winds became hurricanes as tsunamis began to rise from the separated ocean, going off in all directions.

"You will not win!" Karin shouted over the gale, sweating profusely, struggling to match my output.

" **No, I have already won."**

 **"** What?" she exclaimed.

" **Look."** I nodded in the direction of the point of contact. Karin, confused, looked in the direction I indicated.

"!" The surprise on her face was paramount.

Our hammers were breaking.

The weapons were still advancing on one another but were disintegrating as the two opposing forces met.

"Impossible!" Karin cried loudly, not believing her Holy Light was breaking apart.

Her attention was drawn back to me.

 **" _Stagnet. Complexio. Holy Hammer. Supplementum Pro Armationem!"_** All of the magicks that composed our two sledgehammers, once floating down into the ocean, began to converge on me. I welcomed the black and white magic inside my soul. The black magic was returning home.

The white magic was making its new home in my soul.

I began to glow.

Brighter.

Brighter.

Brighter to the point where not even I could see, and I was the source of the light. We covered our eyes, although I couldn't see my opponent do so I knew she would not be able to look into the sun like structure I had become.

"Magia Erebea Aramament: Lux Creator Benedictionis Scriptor."

I was now donned with a golden breastplate, my abs laid bare for all to see. I wore white linen pants that were quite soft to the touch if I had to say so myself. A headpiece of the finest golden material that would make the Greek Goddess of Love Aphrodite go crazy. Finally, wings made of the graces of hordes of angels and the hope of all of humanity protruded out of my back as if they were always there.

Karin was frozen. She had expended all of her magic and stamina with that last attack. The only thing she could do was watch as I offered my arm up into the sky. As if the sun itself bowed to me, I could visibly watch the rays of the sun focus themselves where my hand was: molding. Once the process was done, I held in my hand another hammer. However, this hammer glowed twice as bright as the Holy Light and was double the size of the hammers we had conjured previously.

"This hammer is made out of True Light, a step above the Holy Light that is offered to angels and those who receive Horakhty's blessing." I informed her, gaining knowledge as well as power with this new form.

I brought my outstretch arm down in the exact manner I had done earlier. The mass of True Light sped down upon my opponent. With a large sound similar to that of an explosion, the hammer struck true, sending the personification of devotion down into the ocean at speeds shy of mock level, the ocean rising up in an attempt to swallow me in response to the force of impact.

I had emerged victorious.

 **Spells**

 **Qui facti sunt et qui manducat me in tenebris lumen auferat. Cum potestas magica nigra, et facti sunt malleo percutit, quod angeli in caelis et pulsat super genua sua** **-** I am he who has become one with the darkness. With the black magic, become a hammer that strikes at the angels and bring heaven down to its knees

 ** _Stagnet. Complexio. Supplementum Pro Armationem –_** _Fixate. Seize. Load Magic Armament_

 **Lux creator benedictionis scriptor** **–** Light Creator's Blessing

 **Don't forget to favorite, follow, and most importantly, REVIEW!**

 **Thanks for reading :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Hey guys! Sorry it has been so long since i have updated! I have been really busy with college to write as much as I wanted. Here is the second part of this chapter! Look for the inserted line to read the new content**

 **Don't forget to follow, favorite, and most of all, REVIEW**

 **Killerbull27-** why thank you, I must say that your review is one of the best I have had while writing this. FYI, I combined my chapters into larger ones. Her backstory is something I made up, pure admiration and respect towards her leader doesn't inspire the amount of negative emotion necessary for the way she behaved around Touta so I needed something a little…darker and I thought this would fit. Thank you for the review and I am looking forward to future reviews from you.

 **Laserbr0** \- Nodoka is the girl that can read minds with her artifact. Thank you for waiting and thank you for reviewing!

 **fpinheiro96** \- thank you for your support and i will do the best i can!

 _(Last Time)_

 _Karin was frozen. She had expended all of her magic and stamina with that last attack. The only thing she could do was watch as I offered my arm up into the sky. As if the sun itself bowed to me, I could visibly watch the rays of the sun focus themselves where my hand was: molding. Once the process was done, I held in my hand another hammer. However, this hammer glowed twice as bright as the Holy Light and was double the size of the hammers we had conjured previously._

 _"_ _This hammer is made out of True Light, a step above the Holy Light that is offered to angels and those who receive_ _Horakhty's blessing." I informed her, gaining knowledge as well as power with this new form._

 _I brought my outstretch arm down in the exact manner I had done earlier. The mass of True Light sped down upon my opponent. With a large sound similar to that of an explosion, the hammer struck true, sending the personification of devotion down into the ocean at speeds shy of mock level, the ocean rising up in an attempt to swallow me in response to the force of impact._

 _I had emerged victorious._

( **Touta POV)**

"…"

Several minutes have passed since the battle ended. I had to dive back into the converging waters to spare Karin from the literal tons of ocean crashing down on her unconscious person. After achieving this task, I began flying through the dark and murky sky, trying to get above the clouds, the ones that didn't vanish from our battle, so I could enjoy the last remnants of sunlight and let my clothes dry.

I held the girl in my arms, as nude as she was the moment she was born, my last attack absolutely obliterating all the cloth the covered her figure. Flushed faced, I broke through the clouds, clothes soaked through.

 _This is bad._ I thought, mind racing. _This is very, very bad._

First: in my arms, was a beautiful, well-endowed teenage body of a female, her mouth slightly ajar and eyes closed in what appeared to be slumber. My mind, heart, and soul belong to Kitty but in the name of every single god I knew, this was too tempting! I mean, her modesty is in plain view! I immediately tried to message Kitty via telepathy to beg her for the pair of spare clothes she promised me. Obviously, it didn't work, being half-way around the world and all.

 _Of course it doesn't work!_ I thought, exasperated, doing everything but throwing my arms up in the air. Speaking of which, that sounded like a good idea.

 _Might as well, I can't take this anymore._ Banishing all impure thoughts from my mind, I tossed UQ Holder's Number 4 into the air, shedding my blazer and long sleeve shirt underneath. Her body dropping through the blue expanse, I stretched the blazer out and caught her bridal style, wrapping it around her upper half and sparing my eyes. As for her bottom half, I wrapped the undershirt around her hips and tied the sleeves tight, careful not to drop my 'senpai'. It wasn't perfect and her butt was still uncovered but, at the very least, her modesty was out of sight.

Second: there was no way that our battle did not go undiscovered. The ocean was split if half for crying out loud! We needed to leave quickly before authorities sent boats and choppers to investigate. Well, boats were not an issue since we were above the clouds, but it would be bad news if a helicopter came above the clouds and saw us, as little a chance it was. With this in mind, I started to speed in the direction of our HQ, staying above the cloud line.

Lastly: in my anger, I forgot about the seals on my back and simply struck with the necessary force. Much to my relief, they were just fine. Must have been the Holy Light I absorbed, since I was mostly using the magic that I brought into myself rather than using my own reserves. I checked over the ring that was on my finger. My heart stopped at the sight of the circular ornament.

It had a crack in it.

Somehow it must have gotten damaged during Karin's onslaught. This meant that my energy could be sensed by anyone in the vicinity that was knowledgeable about magic. This had to be fixed as soon as possible.

!

A presence.

I quickly spun around in time to see a shadow moving behind the clouds.

 _Dammit! They are already here? How?_

 _No…more importantly, I have to get away. I can't afford to fight here, no matter if is someone from Ialda's side or not._

I started going even faster, trying to escape my pursuer. I went at this speed for quite a while, but the presence behind me did not fade. In fact…

…it was getting closer.

This could not go on. Karin was not in fighting shape and I could not afford to bring my follower to UQ Holder, otherwise, if my fears are true, the fight will be brought to my friends' doorway.

I began to whisper. "I am a phantom, a phantom of the night, a child of darkness. **Phantom Presence."** I felt the magic wrap itself around me when I finished the spell. This should stop whoever is behind me from seeing me and, as a plus, makes it easier for me to hide my presence. I used the same spell on Karin to keep her out of sight as well.

Confident that we were safe now, I stopped flying and simply hovered in place, hoping that whoever was behind us would pass us.

I didn't have to wait long before the figure was in view. Unfortunately, the figure wore a brown, tarp-like fabric the completely hid his/her face and features, looking like some Grim Reaper, only without the scythe. The figure was getting closer to us, going at a steady speed, careful to make sure that he/she would go unnoticed.

It suddenly stopped…right in front of me. Hoping this was just a coincidence, I held my breath, not once taking my eyes off of this person.

The individual looked around, trying to find the person it was supposed to be chasing, realizing that I had essentially vanished. It began to float forward slowly, trying to find me.

 _Does it know I am in the area?_ A scary thought came to mind. _I need to leave_. _Now!_

"Touta…" A voice said. Shocked and scared out of my wits, I looked down to see that Karin was peering at me, her eyes slightly open.

Realizing that the magic I cast did _not_ stop our voices from being heard, I instantly looked up.

It was staring right at us, glaring at the invisible space we inhabited. Almost as if it could see us through my magic…

I felt threatened.

 _That does it._ I thought. _This thing gotta go. It gotta go NOW!_

Dropping the body in my arms, much to her displeasure, if her surprised scream said anything, I engaged the target.

Still wrapped in **Phantom Presence** , I lashed out at the hooded figure…who dodged my attack.

Annoyed, I tried a few more times to no avail. My earlier mood about not fighting was non-existent now. Before, this person heard Karin and looked in our direction. But that bad feeling in the air, the way it looked, it literally spoke bad intentions. Just like that I knew that this person was bad news. I could almost see some kind of dark aura surrounding this person. It reminded me of something I saw a long time ago…

I continued to strike at my opponent, the ghostly figure starting to retaliate. This person was strong and had brilliant technique. The blows were precise and I could really feel the force behind them. It was all I could do in my sealed state to dodge and deflect the attacks. This thing was also using the legs to kick at me and attempted to knee me in the gut. Not having any of that, I blocked it with my arm and made to grab it so I could perform a fancy throw but had to block a separate strike aimed at my head. The fight was so intense that my limbs were forced to redevelop several times as the individual's ferocity began to increase.

 _How can this person know where I am, even though I can't be seen? And her accuracy with her attacks and blocks. Almost as if this person knows what I am about to do before I do it…_

Getting tired of rough housing with this person, I began to change things up a bit. " **Forma Fulgur."** Lightning stuck to my skin, making it seem like I was a ball of human lightening to the mysterious individual.

I struck.

 **Boom!**

It blocked my lightening enhanced kick with the forearm. I didn't let up, attacking with the speed of a lightening bolt. She attempted to block and dodge some of them but my barrage was too fast for her to stop all of them.

Finally, I saw an opening.

I thrust my arm out and grasped the wretched cloth and yanked it off the individual, appearing a short distance away with garment in hand.

 _Now to see who my assailant's identity._ I thought as I turned to identify my attacker.

"…" I looked at the now evident female.

"…" She looked at me.

We gazed at each other for what seemed like a while. Then the character spoke.

"Judging by your turbulent thoughts, you already know who I am." It wasn't a question.

I dropped all magicks that I had active, revealing my form to my assailant.

"Just because I am a clone doesn't mean I don't contain some residual memories from my original… Nodoka Miyazaki."

(Kitty POV)

"Well, here we are." I told Kuroumaru. We stepped out of the boat we used to reach our base of operations.

"It looks like a hot spring resort." He commented, taking in the vast surroundings and giving his impression.

"We manage hot springs resort here, so you aren't wrong." One of the grunts said. I knew his name but with everything that happened today, I could care less. "We call this place Fairyland Hall. Speaking of which, Mistress, shall I summon the others?"

"Might as well," I sighed. "I am going to have to see them sometime soon anyway so I might as well get it done as soon as possible." It took no time at all before everyone was summoned. I gave them a brief story as to my adventures with the boys, keeping some quite…classified…information to myself. "And with that, I will be sticking with you all for a while. Let us fight together to secure our dark clan enough room to live. All of you have done well these last few years. It will be a pleasure to be working with you again."

"Yes ma'am!" I nodded.

A sound reached my ears. Glancing over to see a few giggling faces and beads of sweat, I decided it was high time to make my escape.

"Now that I have returned, I shall retire to my room for the day. Carry out your duties faithfully!" I dismissed them, striding with precision and purpose to my bedchamber, much to their dismay. _Sorry boys. I am lacking the mood to tolerate your childishness._

(Later that night)

I was lying face down on my mattress. I sat up in realization, feeling like I just woke up. Looking down at myself, the pills wore off and my original form was buried under the huge garments that were being worn earlier. I looked around my room for the alarm clock. I took in the red tapestries that surrounded my bed, covered by a black comforter, hiding sheets of red silk underneath.

 _Funny how the sheets match the ring on my finger…_

All of the blood in my body rushed to my face as I remembered the finest detail of that transaction.

 _"_ _Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell."_

 _"_ _I love you. I love you and always have."_

 _"_ _Will you marry me?"_

 _"_ _Yes."_

I agreed to be his wife. I agreed to be his wife after he asked me to marry him. He is going to be my husband! _He_ is _mine!_

It took all of my hundreds of years of faking, acting, intimidation, and so much more to stop myself from screaming like a high school girl who just got asked out to the prom by her crush. I hugged the nearest pillow to myself and tossed and turned on the bed, not believing all of the things that happened today, but so ecstatic that they did.

So many thoughts were in my head it was a miracle my brain wasn't fried. _I have to make preparations for the wedding! Have to pick out a dress, find a suitable location, send official letters to everyone of UQ Holder and anyone who is still alive from my Academy days, claw the secrets that Touta wants hidden out of him so I can find out more about him, build up a more romantic relationship with him, order food, figure out transportation, have to find a cake, find out what Touta has planned for us, what our future will be like, what to name our kids…nonononononononononono!_

My face heated up, repeatedly pounding my face into the soft pile of pillows I made in under a single millisecond to beat the images coming into my head.

Calming down _,_ I stood up and walked over to the fabric hanging from the ceiling, reaching out and pulling it open. The rest of the room was black. Black walls, black rug, black Ladyboy chair, black 48-inch flat screen…and the damned alarm clock. Finally.

It was about 7 o'clock in the evening. I had slept through dinner. Oh well, I will have to grab something later. Deciding I needed to clean myself before the Touta and Karin returned with news of the victor, I laid bare my skin and started to stride to the adjacent bathroom, also black. Before I could reach it however, someone tried reaching me with telepathy.

 _Must be them,_ I thought, feeling rather stupefied that the action occurred seconds after I thought of it. I welcomed the familiar magic into my mind, confirming it to be Karin.

 _I take it the test went well?_ I inquired, hiding my anxiety.

 _Yukihime-sama!_

I immediately did a double take. This wasn't Touta, it was Karin! And she was in quite the state of distress apparently.

 _What is it Karin?_ I asked, concerned for their safety. _What has happened?_

 _I don't know. All I know is that one minute I am fighting Touta-sama and the next thing I know is that he is carrying me and we get ambushed by some mysterious figure who is appears able to pinpoint location despite being able to see them._

 _What do you mean?_ I asked.

 _Touta used invisibility magic to avoid us being seen by this person. He or she was wearing a cloak so I couldn't tell who it was, only that they have evil intentions. However, despite the invisibility magic, the cloaked individual was still able to pinpoint Touta-sama's location. I *cough cough* managed to escape unseen and am heading towards UQ Holder as we speak._

My mind was racing. An individual wearing a clock to hide their identity and invisibility magic rendered a waste of magical energy? The second part was not that out of the realm of possibility, many masters of their respective art could easily pinpoint the presence of someone. But the part of having evil intentions…

 _Karin, what kind of aura did this person have?_ I asked, hoping against the worst, a cold sensation taking over my heart.

 _…_ _it was the darkest aura I have ever felt. It almost felt… mad._

Her thoughts were uneasy. This only made my own even more tempestuous. If it is who I think it is then I need to get to his side as soon as possible!

 _Karin, listen to me carefully._ I instructed her. _I need you to turn around and go back to that battle._

 _Yukihime-sama?_

 _I want you to keep this channel open as you head back to where Touta is. I will be tracking you and once you stop I will take that as my queue to use your shadow to bring myself over there. Then we can engage the target together._

 _Yes, Yukihime-sama!_

I started gathering the magic necessary and started preparations for the spell, my mind full of worry.

 _Touta…please be okay._

(Touta POV)

"I see," Nodoka spoke, "It is possible for some residual memories to be transferred over during the cloning process. So you know about my identity, and seem to know a little bit of my powers."

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I seem? Why don't you try to read my memory and find out for certain?" Was my witty remark. She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly in response, irking me.

"I could, but you aren't worth the trouble of using my artifact to its full extent."

"…I am sorry, would you mind passing that by me again? My ears haven't been working the best since you basically ripped them off." I cracked my neck and itched my newly regenerated ears, barely containing my anger.

She seemed to notice this and grinned, much to my further displeasure. "You are weak." She told me. "You are not worth using my artifact's full power on."

 _So basically, until she brings out her artifact and opens it, she can't utilize the full powers of mind reading?_

My knuckles were clenched white. So I don't stand a chance in my sealed state do I? With Magia Erebea, I can turn that grin upside down for ya, you…! I was about to voice the venomous message I had for her when I had the strangest thought.

What was she fighting for?

This sudden question calmed the beast that was stirring within me, ready to thrash my opponent. I had the sudden urge to find the answer to this question before raising my fists up again in preparation for round two.

"Tell me," I asked, lying down on a non-existent bed, letting my guard appear down; appear being the operative word. It was still very much up, hoping to catch her if she tried anything. "Why are you fighting on that side? Why willingly take in Ialda's madness just to be with your teacher?"

I already knew the answer, but I asked her in a way that made me sound arrogant for the purpose of getting her emotions riled up. You can learn quite a bit of a person when they let their emotions show.

Unfortunately, she was on to my game and didn't let me have what I wanted. She did answer my question though. "I took in the madness to slow down Ialda's revival. Since Negi killed her, the madness has been eating away at him for the past eighty years. When we noticed this, we decided to take away some of the madness to slow down her revival process until we came up with a plan to seal her away or destroy her outright."

 _Understandable._ "But why would you continue to let him suffer like this? Why not just end his misery and have him commit suicide? Since Ialda takes over those who kill her, if her own host takes his own life, that should be enough to stop Ialda from reviving." The moment those words left my mouth, her hand was around my throat, squeezing with a grip that would make the dinosaurs of old envious.

"You don't think we haven't already tried that?" Was her sudden exclamation, her lips curled into a snarl and her eyes shaking with rage. "If she were that easy to deal with then we wouldn't have that much trouble with her now would we!?"

Ignoring her outburst and unaffected by the lack of oxygen, I focused my attention on her eyes, letting her words flow over me and trying to get a better read on her. Realizing that I accomplished my goal, she released me and looked away, my throat expanding back to normal size after being squished to the size of a pencil.

When I first started training, I thought they were just monsters who had their own sick way of doing things, saving the world the wrong way on purpose. As I fought with Dana, however, I realized that their personalities were changing because of the madness in their systems. They would not normally do what they were doing if they weren't influenced by the insanity produced by that accursed witch.

"And since you are here with me, I assume that you have finally found a plan?" I asked, hoping to receive the only piece of knowledge I never learned back in my timeline.

"Yes." Was her response, facing me once again with a neutral expression, hiding her emotions again. "We have found a way to stop Ialda's resurrection. For that, we need you. We can fill you in with the details back at our HQ." She turned around to face me once more, a bit of the sinister aura fading away and her features softened to the point where she almost looked like the same, innocent girl who's only worry was what grade she got on her last test. "Please, if you truly want to save this world, just like your grandfather, then come with us. If you do, your friends will be safe, and the Earth and Mars will be saved."

"And the people on them?" I questioned, noticing that she seemed to forget a small detail, eyebrow raised.

"They will be safe too." She assured me. "If you come with me, everyone in the solar system will be saved."

Truly…it was a tempting offer. Do as I am told and save the solar system. Before, when I was young and immature, I didn't even consider doing what the 'evil guys' said. But now, I wanted to know more before coming to a decision. However, I am not dumb enough to just blindly walk to their base where they have the home field advantage, as well as having all of the seals still in place.

"No deal, you tell me here what your plan entails." I told her, letting her know that my demand will be answered if she wanted my cooperation.

"…" Her gaze practically begged me to reconsider, hoping that this debate would not have to be settled with violence. I also wanted things to end without violence, but after all of the suffering that I went through, I was itching to get back to fighting. I bit down my bloodlust and continued to stare at the 'hero' with a hardened gaze. Finally, she spoke again, lowering her hand and sounding defeated. "I would if I had the authority to. Only Negi can tell you what you want to know."

I waited for her to continue talking. When she did not, I prodded for answers. "And he can can't see me now because…?"

"Right now, he isn't in his…right state of mind." I knew what she was talking about, it wasn't hard to read between the lines. Negi wasn't Negi right now.

Negi is Ialda right now.

"I see." I said slowly. "Well, I guess this is where negotiations break down."

"It seems so."

We sat in silence, both of us knowing what was going to happen next. We had tried democracy, we had tried settling things without violence, we had tried to get the other to see reason.

I turned away, willing to let her walk away from this in order to give the information she gathered back to Negi.

She wasn't so willing.

I didn't see it, but I sure as hell felt it. A strong blow right across the back of my head, meant to knock me out and put me flat on my face.

It hurt.

It hurt like hell.

But…

"!?" Nodoka gasped, not being able to believe I was still standing, head still attached. I felt her foot leave the spot where it had previously landed a heavy blow. I turned and gave the girl a glare Dana would be proud of.

 _The only reason I am not at her mercy by now is because I didn't think she would be so kind as to let me walk away. If I managed to mistime it by a single millisecond, I would wake up surrounded by Negi's entire group and Ialda herself._

"You seem a little confused." I ground out from between my teeth, advancing. "Did you know that if two forces with equal strength meet at a point, they will cancel each other out? I just made use of that exact same principle. By managing to lean my head back with the same amount of force you attacked me with, I rendered your attack as nothing more than a breeze in the wind."

Before she could formulate any kind of response, with all of the muscle power I dared to use, using a trick I learned from the Witch of the Rift, I let my fist fly deep into her gut, leaving afterimages of my arm in its wake.

 **BoomBoomBoomBoom!**

"…"

"…" We said nothing. Well, I didn't. Nodoka _couldn't_ say anything.

"…impossible…" she croacked, barely able to speak seconds later. "…you only swung… your fist once…how did you…land four blows...?"

I twisted my fist, grinding into her belly. "By making practical use of an optical illusion."

My arm still bent, I extended it to its full length. The result was Nodoka being sent flying into the sky. Farther…farther…and gone.

I sighed and scratched the back of my head. _It is a little disappointing that I could talk one of them away from their group, but then again, they truly believe they are in the right. It will take more than talking to make them abandon their cause._

The back of my head hurt. It was pulsating from that last kick. If this kept up, I would honestly get a migraine. Not wanting any of that, I wrapped my hands on my temporal regions and pushed. With the sound of ripping and tearing flesh, my head was effectively removed from my main body. With ease, I crushed my own head in my hands and burnt it until nothing but ashes remained.

My head grew back almost instantaneously.

"Ugg, I will never get used to that." I spoke, cracking my neck and doing a few movements to get used to the new head. After about a minute of adjusting and relaxation, I took off in the direction UQ Holder was in, hoping Karin had made it back safely.

* * *

Not much time passed before I was met with the familiar grass and oak trees I saw before we started running on the water. Seeing land, I dropped out of the sky and began running on foot, recognizing the landmarks that the fourth and I travelled to conduct our initiation. As I ran, I began to think about my confrontation with Nodoka.

 _That face she made when she asked me to join them… it was a face that begged for everything to be over. With that exhausted smile and her eyes giving off a warm light…she honestly believed everything would end it I said yes and helped them with their plan. But, just because she thinks it is right, what is Ialda's plan in all of this? No way she would just let Negi and the others do as they pleased without having some form of backup plan. Question is, what is it?_

"Touta!"

"Touta-sama!"

Two voices swept into my ears, drawing me out of my turbulent thoughts. Focusing my attention towards the lush green valley in front of me I saw that not everything in its expanse was green. I saw a glimpse of red and a glimpse of yellow and black. It was Karin and Kitty! So Karin really did manage to get away…and thank god she is wearing clothes again! The thought of having to explain to Kitty why I was blushing in the presence of a naked girl that wasn't her was not an experience I was in any hurry to endure.

Karin was back in her normal red sailor uniform, that much I could distinguish as the gap between us closed. Kitty, however, was wearing something new. She was in her true, child form, normal bare feet, her hair was draped across her back just like normal, but her clothes consisted of a mono-black top that went down to her thighs, making it look like a dress or a skirt, rather than what it actually was, a shirt. The cloth in question had a short, unfolded, stand-up collar that stood up a few centimeters. Its key feature was a single white line of cloth that crossed her chest, hovering just above her breasts.

Digging my toes into the dirt below, I skidded to a stop in front of the two anxious women, trying to withstand the urge to cough as the large clouds of brown sediment entered my nose like people entering a bar on a weekend.

"Hey Karin," I said, scratching at my nose, "glad you managed to get away. Oh, and sorry for dropping you." I sheepishly apologized, bowing my head slightly and moving my hand from my nose to the back of my head, a nervous chuckle leaving my lips.

"Do not worry about it Touta-sama." Karin told me, her face as expressionless as ever, showing only the faintest traces of relief. Her arms positioned behind her body, revealing a pile of colored fabric that I recognized as my jacket and undershirt when Karin caught me staring in curiosity. "In that situation, I would have done the same had our positions were reversed. It is hard to fight to your fullest whilst worrying about protecting someone." I nodded gratefully to both her understanding and the retrieval of my coveted jacket.

"Thank you for understanding Karin." I spoke my honest gratitude, pulling my orange undershirt over my head.

I stopped when I felt something warm press up against my bare back, stopping me from pulling my shirt down. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that it was Kitty who was stopping me. I didn't know what to think when Kitty didn't say anything when I made my appearance, but now she was stopping me from putting on my…

She was staring at my seals.

"…you have been awfully quiet Kitty. Want some milk?" That nervous remark earned me a painful smack in the back of the head, making an audible clap on contact. "Hey, easy there." I complained, rubbing the sore spot. "I just grew this head back, I don't want to do it again."

There wasn't any reaction out of the blond, now running her fingers across the markings, making my anxiety skyrocket like one of those thermometers from kids shows. Karin, however, grew quite a precarious expression on her face. Her eyes narrowed in a manner indicating confusion and her lips, I don't know how it was possible, seemed to resemble a duck bill in that moment.

"I'm sorry, Touta-sama, say that again?" She asked.

"Oh, when I was fighting, my opponent managed to land a powerful blow to the occipital portion of my head." I told her, indicating the portion of my head a few inches above my neck. "I think she may have managed to break some of my skull and drive it into my brain. When the pain got to a certain point, I ripped my head off and destroyed it. I grew another one, obviously." With a flash, I tossed my head to the side and gave off a cocky grin to make my point. Lucky for me, I saw a glimpse of red under Karin's eyes, just for a second but I saw it.

 _Wonder if Kitty will allow a second wife…wait, WHAT AM I THINKING!? KITTY, MY GODDESS! FORGIVE ME IN MY MOMENT OF WEAKNESS!_

Karin spoke up, most likely noticing the small amount of heat on my own face and hurried to change topics. "…the fact that you can speak of regenerating the entire control system of your body, reattach all of the nerves and ligaments, having the calculating ability and cunning to realize the source of the problem and actually rip off your own head, let alone even move without your brain, is quite a dizzying thought." She told me, her hand traveling to her forehead whilst shaking her head in denial, the immortal's other arm reaching for her hip.

 _It isn't nearly as freaky as you make it sound…_ I thought with an internal chuckle. "Want me to prove it?" I grabbed the sides of my head in order to reenact the discussed scene.

"Please don't." She said. I shrugged and returned my focus to my fiancé, who had stopped investigating my back and was staring at me with a serious expression, which I could not help but consider cute, with her eyes ever so slightly wavering in annoyance and curiosity, her cheeks slightly buffed as if she had something in her mouth but didn't want anyone to see what it was. That is, it would have been cute if her eyes were not trying to dig the secrets out of my back like a shovel digging into dirt!

As I observed her behavior, I shiver crept up my spine, deep as the oceans and colder than the center of the South Pole.

The oldest vampire had on a face of shock, her eyes the size of saucers, gawking at my back. This feeling, as if answering my worst fears, instantly tripled when her glacier-making glare seemed to be trying to rip my soul apart, finally discovering what the true meaning of my decorated body.

 **"Touta…what is this on your back?"** If her eyes could make glaciers then the blonde's voice could put a tropical island into an eternal winter! Even Karin, who held her leader above all else, was retreating from the dangerous sensation that began to soak into the atmosphere.

"Would…would you believe me if I told you it was a tattoo?" I managed, hoping I could somehow escape her wrath with a carefully laid joke.

She was not amused.

 **"…"**

"!?" With a simple narrowing of her eyes and adorning a scowl, I was truely beginning to question my safety; even more so when Kitty started to violently exude enough magical energy to create a storm of bluish-white, wispy, gas-like substance. This rather large tornado of magical energy circled its owner like a moon does to a planet, continuously rising into the air and tearing the skies asunder.

 **"I will not…ask you twice."** Her voice slowly spoke, sounding as dead as her expression was unforgiving. I needed to speak soon or face the consequences.

"…I…I am sorry…but…I can't…I can't tell you."

 **"..?"** The tension began to soar as her question was left unanswered, killing intent thick in our surroundings. The silence seeped into my ears, begging an explanation for my response.

"F…for the sake…of the…" I stopped myself.

 _Why am I stuttering? This is Kitty! She is just upset and worried for me, surely! I just have to tell her like I did back in the hot spring!_ The memories from back then began to surface, reminding me of how soft her lips were, the heat of her skin against mine as we 'played' in the water, the love that the both of us wanted to give each other…

I opened my mouth to tell her what she wanted to know, hoping to reclaim what we started back then…only…

 **'No.'**

Suddenly, everything went black.

 **(Kitty POV)**

 _He dares…this motherfucker dares to keep something hidden from me? Despite everything we shared back at the hot spring!?_

Normally, I would only be a little upset with the fact that secrets are being kept from me, it is just something that happens from time to time that I have come to accept. However, the fact that my soon to be _husband_ decided to keep something from _me,_ his soon to be _wife,_ was not something I wanted him to develop a habit of any time soon. _Especially_ since this information that Touta dared to keep hidden from me is among the most dangerous acts an immortal can ever do!

I was absolutely livid. Did he even know what he got himself into with that… _thing_ …on his back? How could he even do that to himself? What about the future was so bad that he had to resort to using _that?_

 _I can't tolerate this anymore; my emotions are getting away from me. Perhaps knocking some sense into this gargantuan fool will make him learn his lesson?_

Wrapping all of the magical energy that surrounded me into my left fist took a minute longer than I expected, but it didn't bother me as much as the situation before me does. I threw my clenched fist back and unleashed all of my aggression into his face.

 **BOOM!**

 **WOOSH!**

The leftover force of my punch generated a massive shockwave that, after soaring over the vast valley, ripping the grass from the ground, effectively tearing up all greenery within a several miles in a straight line.

"…"

 **"…"**

…I can't believe it.

I knew, with the few times I managed to anger the man I loved, that he was far stronger than I realized… but this was just stupid.

He managed to block my fist…with just his arm!

All of my senses were sharped from the anger I felt towards this person; I saw Touta effortlessly bring his arm up as the momentum carried my fist into the outside portion of his forearm, causing the large shockwave to reshape the landscape into two separate valleys with a waterless moat halfway between them.

But that shouldn't even be possible. I am a seven-hundred-year-old vampire, the oldest and strongest vampire on the face of the planet, just below the elders and royalty. Touta is just a changeling that hasn't even been around for a-!

' _"…rather, one thousand and seven years…"'_

It was one of the few details that I had forgotten, I mean, how could I not have trouble remembering every little detail of what will probably be the most stressful day of my life, with all of the emotional turmoil and the almost unbelievable story and the sudden proposal? But it made sense. He cut that bounty hunter in half, used magic to fend off my attack in the forest, won a fight with Karin…but this…

This isn't Touta anymore.

A shadow had befallen my beloved's face, hiding his eyes from my sight. My emotions began to rise again, seeing that he was easily able to block my attack, I should use a stronger one if he continued to resist his punishment for worrying me.

"I don't have time to tolerate your immaturity any longer Evangeline." I flinched at his stab at my name. His voice was as lifeless and dull as an unsharpened blade and that is not like him. He carried himself with a newfound confidence, not showing even a hint of the fear he had before. This sudden chance unnerved me, how could he go from shaking coward into lifeless bravado?

"Yuki…Yukihime-sama?" My subordinate called from the nearby fallen greenery, taking refuge behind some fallen trees. With a small glance, her worry was clearly evident upon her face alongside confusion. "What was that?"

"Something that doesn't concern you Karin." He said. My eyebrow lifted a few inches, not anticipating this kind of response directed towards the fourth. "This is between me and Kitty."

Karin seemed rather hurt by that statement. Her hands were shaking and her eyes were getting wet. This hurt my own feelings. The fact that Touta would say something like that at all, even if it wasn't directed at me per say, was still a shock. How bad was the future for him to change so much?

I must have been visibly shaken since Touta was looking at me with a softer expression than he was when I hit him. He turned to inquire the state of our fellow UQ Holder member, but questions were not needed to see how shaken she was. The black-haired man took several deep breaths to calm himself down. After several seconds, he gave me a smile.

"Look, I am sorry." He told us. "I have been under a lot of stress recently and can't really find an outlet for my frustration. That doesn't mean that it is right to take it out on you two."

All of my frustration and anger was washed away with his words. How does he do that? How can he say just the right things to make me feel so…what was this emotion? My face is on fire and I couldn't seem to stand still, entwinning my fingers behind my back and making circles in the dirt with my feet.

"Well…there is one thing you can do to make me forgive you." I said. His eyebrow rose in response to my statement.

 _What the fuck am I saying!? I should be clobbering him for keeping secrets and doing such an unforgivable act!_

I suddenly became helpless as I watched Touta confidently stroll over to me. He took his hand and wrapped it around my cheek and rose my head up for a kiss.

"Mmm." I welcomed it whole heartedly. His lips were so soft and he was so gentle. I didn't even realize that my tongue crept out of my mouth and was asking his to play.

 _…maybe I will clobber him latter. Maybe._

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-!?" As sudden as the kiss was, it ended in the same manner, much to my disappointment. Karin seemed to be hyperventilating as her fingers twitched and her eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything.

"Oops." Touta said, his smile indicating that he wasn't really sorry. This seemed to be the trigger that set Karin over the edge.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING KONOE TOUTA-SAMA!?" She exploded. "Who do you think you are? K-k-kissing Yukihime-sama out of the blue like that! This is unacceptable! Have you no shame?"

"Why, Karin," Touta started, "am I hearing things? Is that jealousy in your voice?"

WHAM!

Touta just barely dodged the hammer strike that was aimed at his head, the hammer hitting the ground and leaving a rather large hole.

"I'll take that as a yes." Touta laughed, running away from the enraged and embarrassed female.

"I will kill you!"

"Try me Karin; I'm immortal!"

I couldn't help but chuckle as the two exchanged verbal jousts at one another. Following the path of destruction they left in their wake, I followed after them, frowning as images of Touta's 'tattoo' crept into mind.

 _Touta…as soon as we get back, you will tell me why you split your soul into a hundred and one pieces._


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Guess who has returned! Not me cause I never left! SIKE!**

 **But seriously, I never left, just getting beaten to death with deadlines and papers and assignments left and right up here at college so I haven't had time to really work on my fanfiction. Do not worry, this fanfic is till very much alive and well, just very slow updates due to the end of the semester fast approaching. Now a reminder that I post 5k chapters and combine a part 2 to the latest chapter to make it 10k. So after this, I do my finals, do my jury duty, then I got summer classes cause my life sucks! So the next chapter will be a while before I can post the second part of this chapter but it will come so have no fear!**

 **Now for this chapter, be warned that this chapter is mostly lemon but also not really a lemon as there is no hanky panky involved. For all of those who know I am talking about, this is more 'plot' than actual plot. We will get to the actual plot in the second part of this chapter in a month or so, hopefully.**

 **Remember these individuals are hundreds of years old and as such have every right to engage in such activity**

 **RR**

 _(Touta POV)_

There is nothing that could make this situation any more awkward.

Karin, Kitty and I have returned to headquarters roughly half an hour ago with Karin still trying to hit me with her hammer for constantly teasing her during our journey. Once the grunts of the immortal group saw the three of us, they immediately threw themselves at their boss with worry and confusion upon their faces. After each of the fifty individuals got a good make out session with Karin's hammer, Kitty told them that it was official business that came up suddenly and she had asked the forth and I to escort her. Seemingly satisfied with this, they continuously pestered the little girl for more details, forcing the blond to come up with an elaborate story. After explaining how we slayed a hydra, of all things, I found myself getting dragged by the arm into Kitty's bedroom.

Thus, leading to the current situation of being pinned down to comfy black surface.

"No more hiding secrets from me, no more keeping things quiet, no more trying to hold the weight of the future on your shoulders. I want the whole story. Now." Her azure eyes glowed with a fierce resolution and her grip was unyielding, refusing to let me go if I decided to struggle.

Despite the rather intriguing position we were in, I couldn't help fell a little sad. Knowing what she wanted to know, my heart began dropping in my stomach.

"You already know the whole story. There is only one part you don't know everything of."

I hesitated, avoiding her insistent eye contact.

After a moment of silence, her speech and expression softened. "You really don't want to tell me, do you?"

"No. But something tells me after that display you put on back there, you already have some idea of what you want me to say." She nodded in affirmation. Her left hand, previously holding my arm down, began to stroke my cheek in a loving manner. I could see the ring on it clearly, the magic no longer concealing it.

"When I said yes to your proposal, I was truly happy that you asked me. I had so many worries and fears for the future that I didn't want to move forward, least of all with someone else. But then you came along and told me your story of coming from the future. At first, I didn't believe you and considered it a fabrication or some made up events. But can you blame me? Time-travel is so unlikely that most people, mortals and immortals, consider time-travel to be a work of fiction. But then I remembered a certain member of UQ Holder who has an ability that is like her own version of time travel. That was when I realized that maybe your story wasn't as foolhardy as I first thought. Then once I gave it some thought, your tale started to make sense. I took a chance and believed you. So far, you have done nothing to make me regret that decision. Please don't make me start to regret that."

"…" There was nothing that I could do to not be moved by her speech. To think that I was this close to her saying no to my proposal. My heart was filled with so much care and love from her words I could do nothing to hold back my large desire to kiss this beautiful angel on top of me.

And I did just that.

With my free arm, I took her own cheek and gingerly grazed those gorgeous pink membranes on her face, supporting myself with my other arm as I sat up to further enjoy the moment. Her reaction was instantaneous. Her eyes fluttered slightly and she gave herself into the kiss. The shock from her lack of persistence to find the truth I kept hidden almost made me bite her lip and not in the good way. Then again, having only three lovers in her centuries of life does tend to strengthen the need for the pleasure and giddiness a mutual relationship based on emotion brings.

In mere moments, her mouth parted ways for my appendage, wiggling inside to have fun with her own muscle. The sensation of our tongues swirling around each other was putting me into a high I did not want to come down from. Both my arms were unbound now as her hands were now making their way into my shirt, exploring the flats and crevices that were my abs. Her ministrations were driving me insane; the inside of her mouth was perfect and the way her tongue played with my own was driving me near insanity. Her hands were not making it any easier, exploring my body as if it belonged to her. I needed to get into a more dominant position.

I needed to make her mine.

I wrapped my legs around her waist and shoved her off of me, using our momentum to carry me on top of her, pinning her down this time.

"Hah…hah…hah…" A thin trail of liquid trailed down her chin and onto the midnight sheets.

"Hah…hah…hah…" The sight only made my current situation more provocative. The bulge in my pants was growing more and more painful as we panted out our exhaustion.

"You already know… that I split my soul…" Kitty's eyes widened, albeit still glazed over with desire. Her expression grew as serious as it could while still exhaling at a constant pace.

"I had… no other choice."

"What…do you…mean...?"

"Dana told me ... I needed to train.. for a millennium in order to become strong enough to deal with the Witch of the Beginning." My speech came more fluidly as I regained enough air to speak efficiently. Kitty regained her breath nearly the same time I did. I sat back on her hips as I remembered the gruesome hell I experienced, removing my arms from her own and thus freeing her upper body.

"Everything has a limit. When I said I was training nonstop, I meant it. No sleep, no food, no drink. Only when it began to hinder my training was I allowed to get a meal. Even then, I was forced to evade a constant array of attacks as I ate the slop she provided. After three hundred years, my mentality began to break down. I was literally going crazy. The only way I could endure it all was to seal the negative emotions into a part of my soul and cut it away. I had to seal a portion of my power into the soul fragment as well to keep the negativity from leaking into my mind or, even worse, my soul."

"And each of those fragments formed a mark on your back." She gasped in realization.

"Pretty much." I shrugged.

"And you did that one hundred and one times?" I nodded in response to her question, her blue eyes widening as her hands covered her mouth in horror as she attempted to imagine what I had to go through.

"Oh my god." She gasped, apparently never realizing that my situation could get worse than what she believed. "Wait, then what about this evening?"

My eyes widened at the recollection of today's earlier events. "Oh frick, that reminds me, I need a new concealing ring."

Looking at my beloved's confused face, I decided to elaborate. "Back when I was fighting Karin, she managed to chip the ring I use to keep my excess power from escaping my body. The result was one of the Witch's pawns showing up and trying to abduct me."

This was something she didn't know if her grabbing at my arms to pull herself up and stare at me was anything to go by. "Who was it?"

"Nodoka. The only reason I was able to beat her in my sealed state was she didn't think she needed to use her artifact against me. If she did, I would have had to break a few seals in order to deal with her."

"I see." She hesitated, adapting a hoping, yearning look. "Do you think you could beat Negi? Or Nagi?"

"Honestly? I don't know. The only thing I have to compare myself to is Dana and when I left, we were just as strong as one another."

"Hmm..." Kitty brought a finger up to her mouth and bit down on it slightly. "Even Dana would give the both of them a wide birth. Earning the titles of Magic Magister and Thousand Master are not just for show. They could always seal her away into a different plane of existence where not even time and space hold power if she isn't careful. On an unrelated note…"

"Hmm?" I asked, curious at what could take her attention off of this important topic.

"How long are you going to be on top of me?" she bucked her hips lightly, making it known that I was indeed still straddling her.

"Oh, sorry, forgot about that for a minute." I apologized, re-positioning myself so that I was sitting at the edge of the bed, feeling guilty for making the girl I love uncomfortable. As I corrected myself, I fixed my shirt so it covered my stomach again. I was beginning to regret not taking advantage of her distraction earlier.

"Geez, you would forget something like that." She teased, not wanted to mess up her comfortable spot on the bed. "Now you have to give me a massage."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a crooked smile. "I have to, or you want me to?"

She gave me a flirty smile and turned over on her stomach in a slow and erotic manner. "Which ever one makes you sleep at night. Either way, you are not leaving this room until I get one." To emphasize her point, the blond pointed a finger at the only door in the room and a blast of frozen air froze the doorknob in a chunk of unshapely blue ice. I couldn't help feeling that freezing the door shut was a little much but I wasn't going to complain.

I had a plan.

"Well, guess I'm not going anywhere for a while. If you want a massage then I am going to need you to stand up."

"Excuse me?" She said, tilting her head in my general direction, confused as to what my motives were for asking such a question. I smiled and said nothing, keeping my lips sealed. The struggle to keep my voice and face from expressing too much of what I had planned was so real I almost lost it when Kitty complied to my demand with a disapproving stare and a cross of her arms under her bust.

 _'Now to work the magic.'_ Clapping my hands together with a few rubs I earnestly went to work making the perfect place for my beloved's 'massage'. Closing the distance between myself and the light-switch, the lighting instantly vanished with a flick of the wrist. With a few magical words leaving my lips, several lights glowing a vibrant orange started to appear on my left arm. More words were whispered and wisps of blue flame tickled the air above my right appendage. Smiling, I extended my multi-colored arms and gently blew on them, the resulting light show ensnaring the senses of my little angel.

"Its beautiful." She breathed, completely taken in by the resulting light-show. The curiosity seemed to have claimed the blond cat as her delicate fingers explored the objects that hovered in the air, easing her out of her previous displeasure. Letting the princess of my heart sate her desire for the unknown, I began testing the bed by placing small amounts of my weight on it. I grinned when I realized that the bed was close to the level of firmness I wanted. I had planned on casting a few charms to make the bed a little more plush so that we could sink into it but judging from how the bed felt, there was no need.

"Alright Kitty, I am ready for your-what are you doing?" I asked when I turned to see her staring rather intensely at one of the blue flames as its tongues tasted the air in a greedy manner.

"I'm trying to figure out what this is." She told me, not once taking her gaze off the azure mystery. "Its warm and I can touch it but for some reason I think it does something else besides float and glow like the other lights."

"You aren't wrong." I responded, walking behind her and placing my hands on her hips, pressing myself against her back lightly and breathed into her ear. "If you could name any one fragrance that you want right now, what would it be?"

She cutely startled at my touch and shivered at the sensation of my breath caressing her neck before answering. "... Jasmine."

Once the word was spoken, the blue flame adapted a violet hue for but a moment before the unique and enthusiastic aroma that could only be defined as jasmine filled the air in front of us. Somewhat startled, the blond pressed herself into me in a small bit of surprise before realizing the change in the air. Gasping pleasantly, she breathed in the gentle aroma with the grace of a woman with wealth.

"I call it The Scented Flame." I explained, running one of my hands up and down her back while keeping the other one on her hip. "By analyzing the vibrations in the air, it can release the scent of whatever it recognizes. The flame knew the vibrations jasmine makes in the air so it mimicked the smell. For example, if I were to say chocolate..." Another purple hue from the flame before the familiar scent of sweet, sweet chocolate filled the air. "... it will start to smell like chocolate and exude its fragrance into the air around it. And back to Jasmine we go."

"And you made this?"

"I did. Do you like it?"

With a turn, a grin, and a warm hug, she said, "I do. I love it."

Raising an eyebrow at the statement, I question what she meant by love. "Even more than me?"

"Of course not." She responded, giving me a playful nudge and a chuckle. "How can a small little flame like that ever compare with the man who broke the laws of space and time just to marry me?"

"I didn't think so." Bending down, I lifted her chin up for a small kiss as a reward. However, my little reward wasn't enough for the greedy blond it seems. As I was about to pull back, a hand found its way behind my head and was stopping me from leaving. Not complaining in the slightest, I answered to cute frowny face Kitty was giving me with another kiss.

"More." She asked. I gave her another small kiss.

"More." I kissed her again.

"More." And again.

"One more time?"

 _God, I love teasing her so much! She just keeps getting cuter and cuter the more I tease!_

"Nope," was my response, "no more kisses until after your massage. You wanted a massage, you are going to get a massage." With that being said, I grabbed her under her armpits and gave her a light toss onto the bed, the girl landing on her stomach with an oomph.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing, throwing your fiancé around like she is some kind of rag doll! I am a lady!" She craned her neck around to scold me as if I was the one at fault. Well...technically I was...but she was the one that started this so everything that happens from now on in on her.

"When you show me a lady I will treat you like one." The blond's eyes grew wide and her jaw went slack as I cracked my knuckles in a variety of ways for the upcoming rub down.

"Excuse me!? You want a lady? Fine! I'll be right back with a body changing pill and you will see-" She was interrupted as my arms pushed against her back to keep her from moving, positioning my hips over her backside, pinning her down with no easy means of escape. I leaned over her back as whispered into her ear.

"Now why would I ever let you do that?" I purred into her ear as I went to work on her sides, massaging all of the tension she built up over the decades and centuries. A moan escaped her childish lips as her struggling began to weaken, not wanting to go anywhere anymore as my fingers pushed into her clothing, applying only enough pressure for her to know I was touching her. As I glided from cloth to skin, I made sure to slowly graze her skin, the hairs on her arms rising on end.

"Mmm...that is good~" She moaned in appreciation, pleased that the skills of her beloved were higher than she expected. I smiled at the honest praise I received, slowly but surely adding more pressure to the massage as the seconds ticked by. After testing how tight her muscles were, I started to rub my hands from her shoulder blades to her arms, repeating the action to help relax her upper back and her shoulders. This was greeted by another moan as the blond got even more comfortable beneath me, resting her chin on her forearms and enjoying the treatment.

"Oh yeah~. Right there...no, down a little... lower... that is the spot~" After listening to her instructions, I began to massage her lower back, starting from the middle of her spine and gently pulling my arms towards my thighs, careful not to hurt Kitty as I tried the unusual positioning. A few seconds later and the sensation just didn't seem right anymore, pulling my arms to my groin area was just so weird! Keeping my fingers on her lower back, I removed myself from her hips and now stood beside her, massaging the same area much easier now if Kitty's moans of approval were anything to go by.

"Mmm~"

After rubbing her lower back in every which way possible, I moved lower, gradually gliding my fingers over her butt. Her breathing hitched at the contact with one of her more sensitive areas.

"Y-you aren't going to massage there...are you?" After hearing actual words from her mouth and not just moans, I stopped staring at her ass and looked up at the face of the girl I love. She was propping herself up with her forearms as she craned her neck to look at me, her eyes shaking with an uncertain glint as they looked into my own.

"I can if you want me to. But I am not going to do anything you don't want me to." I reassured her, smiling at her and moving my hands lower to her calves. She smiled in approval and went back to lying down and letting me work on her lower legs. I pushed against her skin, applying a gentle pressure as I kneaded her calves in various ways with varying pressures, testing what drew the most reaction out of my lover.

"You are not as tense as I thought you would be." The softness of her skin and how easily her muscles accepted my treatment pleasantly surprised me.

"It has been a few decades since my last decent physical exertion. It is natural for my body to be so relaxed."

Repositioning myself behind the girl so that I was standing by her feet, I smiled. "It makes me happy knowing that you seem to have had at least a few stress free years." I grabbed her leg and pulled it up, my intended action oblivious to the blond.

"Hehe, as stress free as I can be knowing until recently I was being hunted and one of my best friend has been taken over by a near Omni-potent being and my other friends are dying of old age while I am still living." I could literally hear her previously pleasant mood taking a dark turn. "Yeah, given the circumstances, I guess you could say th-kyah! Wh-wh-what are YoU doINg?"

"What does it *slurp* feel like I am doing *pop*?" As I treated the vampire's feet with my mouth, the girl began to twitch in fits of laughter and embarrassment.

"Wh-Wh-Why ARE yOU *laugh laugh laugh* licKIng my fOot *moan*?" Kitty found it very hard to say anything without her voice betraying the sensations she was feeling. She was laughing as her entire body convulsed at the tickling sensation of her soon-to-be fiancé treating her feet with his wet appendage. Her breathing hitch whenever he slipped my tongue between her toes, laugh uncontrollable whenever I licked the length of her foot and gasped whenever I sucked at her toes, the tightening sensation of my wet and warm mouth on her big toe as his tongue circled her digit causing her to moan and thrash about in a fit of laughs and erotic sighs.

After a loud pop as I mercifully released her innocent toe, I wiped away a trail of saliva from my mouth. "I didn't like where this talk was going...so I decided to something to...how do I put it...take it off your mind?"

Evangeline gasped and breathed heavily as I ceased my actions on her foot, too weak from her spasms and lack of oxygen to offer any kind of resistance. "Please...please stop sucking my foot." She begged me, not sure if she could take another round of that pleasant and yet dreaded action. "If you keep doing that...I am going to go crazy."

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this comment. "Is that so? Does that mean you like it when I do this?" I lowered the foot I had in my right hand and grabbed the other one, Evangeline's eyes widened as she turned around in realization.

"Please...don't. I don't know how much more I can take."

"Oh? Then lets find out shall we?" With that said, I stuck her other foot in my mouth, not holding back like I did with the other one, wanted to her Kitty scream my name as I went to town.

"*Mm kiss slurp peck slurp nibble kiss bite*"

"MMM!" Kitty instantly slammed her hands over her mouth to stop her from screaming in ecstasy, her eyes widening at the massive difference in how he treated her. This wasn't like last time where it was more tickling than pleasure. This time...I was hell-bent on making her submit. She was a prideful vampire who's strength was almost uncontested on the mortal plane. While she took leisure in the previous massage knowing full well that I was at least as strong as her, it would disgrace her name if she willingly let herself succumb to such pleasure without a fight. And fighting the pleasure she was doing. It was taking every ounce of her self control to not scream out her beloved's name as he incessantly smothered her toes in his saliva, caressing them with tongue in ways that drew out levels of pleasure she never knew even existed without actual intercourse.

"*Kiss kiss peck slurp bite lick lick kiss lick*"

"MMM! MM MM MMMM!" I watched as Kitty thrashed her body, unable to hide the pleasure she was experiencing, unable to free herself from my grasp on her leg. After giving her plenty of the sweet sweet bliss/torture, I figured it was time go change it up a bit...but not before one last who-rah!

" *Lllllliiiiiiiiccccccckkkkkk*" I brought her heel to my mouth and pressed my tongue into her foot before slowly sliding my tongue up towards her toes, pressing as hard as I dared against her smooth skin. Her resistance instantly shattered at my final assault.

"TOOUUTAAAA! I CAN'T! I CAN'T! I'M GONNA CU-AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Her hips bucked as she hit the highest point of pleasure, far greater than anything and everything she had known to be considered pleasurable.

Her screams were as beautiful as her flushed face as she tried to endure the countless waves of pleasure, high on the sensation.

I gulped at the sight. At that moment...

...something inside of me snapped.

This time, I sprawled myself on top of her before her high faded and gave her the hottest open mouth kiss a man could ever give his lover. Despite feeling like her head was in the clouds, she recognized my tongue inside of her mouth and responded in kind, our tongues going to war as we mauled the others wet muscle with as much force as we could manage, attempting to gain entry and earn domination rights over the other.

Without hesitation, Evangeline wrapped her legs around my waist, leaving me to easily manage our combined weight. With the added ease of moving only two legs rather than four, I stood up with her startling me, our kiss continuing as I turned and walked until Kitty's back bumped into a wall, pressing her into the hard substance all while beating her tongue into submission and exploring her mouth. Her eyes opened wide when she felt the girth hiding between my legs, her arousal only rising as she started to grind her hips into mine, eager for more contact. Her moans whenever I licked the roof of her mouth made my gnads tingle, my body hair stand on end, and a wonderful shiver down my spine. One of her hands ran down my back as the other began to play in my hair, grasping it and squeezing it as the pleasure seemed to only get more intense. I mimicked her actions: my arms travelling through her hair and running down her back, giving her buttocks a tight squeeze over her much too large shirt. Kitty moaned into my mouth at the action and her grinding began to increase its pace. Our lips broke from each other with a loud pop, the both of us panting heavily and noticing the saliva clinging to our membranes.

"Touta *gasp* please *gasp* give it to me *gasp* give it to me now!"

I replied with a crooked smile and raised eyebrow, trying to sound as innocent as possible, loving how susceptible Eva was to my teasing. "What do you mean?"

"Please, don't tease me." She begged, desperately rubbing herself against my erection in an attempt to relieve herself. "I can't hold it anymore. I need you. I want you so bad. I can't hold on anymore~"

"I still don't know what you mean." I grinned as I began to suckle her neck, earning even more moans as a reward.

"Touta~," she groaned, bucking her hips faster and faster, trying to finish by herself. Not having any of that, I pressed myself into her and pulled my lower body away, making sure she wouldn't be able please herself further. "No~! You are soo mean~." Her voice was starting to sound more and more desperate by the second.

"I want to hear you say it. I want you tell me _exactly_ what you are about to do."

Her face became even more heated that it already was, realizing what I wanted her to do. "No~ don't make me do that again~. *gasp* Its too embarrassing~."

 _She is soo cute...I don't think I can afford to keep teasing for much longer._

After giving her one last hickey, I began whispering into her ear with the sweetest tone I could possibly manage, making sure I was close enough for my breath to brush against her skin how she liked it. "Say it."

"Hmm~!" She moaned, clamping her mouth shut by biting into my neck to contain her nervous excitement.

MNGH!

My back arched as my head reeled backward at the astonishing pleasure that was happening my trapezius, my spine tingling at the feeling.

 _What is this? I'm feeling it by being bitten?_

"Say it." I managed to say as I craned my neck to whisper into her ear again, my voice coming out as a guttural growl.

Her fingers tightening around my hair and back, tearing through my vest and shirt as another moan tried to break free. Her elongated fangs also bit deeper into my skin, the pleasure starting to make me see stars. How was she doing this? From a mere bite, how am I feeling so much pleasure?

 _Vampire venom!_ I realized. _When vampires drink for blood, they inject an aphrodisiac into the victims body to change any sensation of pain into an equal pleasure. So that is what was happening._

"Say it!" I was getting too close to say anything more without releasing my pent up desires! I already made Kitty do it but I would be damned if I came before her.

I couldn't hold it anymore. With Kitty still biting in my neck, the pleasure only grew. I felt like a damn trying to hold back too much water, I was about to explode!

In my pleasure, I also bit down on my partner's trapezius, moaning into her skin, fighting to last another second. In one last final attempt, I reached under her shirt and furiously rubbed at the wet spot that I knew was there. That plus the bite was the trigger that set Kitty off. Her entire body instantly tightened around me, her nails clawing at my back and her legs squeezing me for everything I was worth, the pleasure ripped through her body in giant waves no sooner than my own dam exploded.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" She screamed into me.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! I growled into her, my body feeling hot and fuzzy at the sensation of the euphoric high.

"*sigh...*sigh*...*sigh*..." We heaved labored breaths, our hot breath making the other's necks warm as we slowly drew our fangs out of one another. I gasped as a rainbow of colors filled my vision. Through the array of blues and reds, Kitty looked no better than I did, her head leaning against the wall. Unable to support the both of our weight after enduring the most pleasant experience I have ever felt, I stumbled backward several steps and fell onto Kitty's bed with said individual not moving from my stomach, only changing posture to lay against me, her legs wrapping around mine.

"That was...soo good~" She groaned, her eyes refusing to open.

"That was...a sneaky trick...biting me like that..." I breathed, my eyes fighting to stay open.

"Hehe...I was going to get you...one way or...another..."

"Well...you did it...it was amazing~" I sighed, earning a giggle from the exhausted female.

And with that, we both faded into the abysmal darkness wrapped in the warmth of each other.

* * *

*Chirp* *chirp chirp chirp*

 _Ugg..._

The sound of cardinals and robins filled the room, signaling that the start of a new day has begun...for them at least.

No damned birds are going to tell me when my day starts.

With that thought, I reached over and flailed my hand somewhat in search of what I was feeling for. Finally, my digits touched a smooth, plastic alloy. Pushing the window closed with a semi-audible bang, I rolled over in the luxurious bed, away from the sunlight.

"Good morning Touta." An angel spoke to me. I refused to open my eyes to acknowledge this voice.

"Morning my ass." With a grumble, I convey my feelings on how I felt about being woken up. "Damned pests. The chirping of annoying winged creatures is not how I define a good morning." With that being said, I promptly tossed the covers over my head in hopes of getting a few more hours of sleep. As I attempted to enter the sweet abyss, a feather tickled my lips. Knowing who this 'feather' belonged to, I reached up and around, pressing the giggling body against my body, rolling over as I did so. The warm softness Kitty provided was one of the most comforting sensations I have ever felt, my eyelids began to feel heavy again.

"Ah, ah, ah!" A brisk pain made itself known on my cheeks. With a groan, I opened my eyes to see a blond clasping the sides of my face with a smile. "While I would love to stay in bed with you, it is time to get up and get some breakfast."

"I don't wanna." I brushed off her hands and brought the pillow on top of my head to block out her voice and the light.

A moment of silence and Kitty spoke: "I will make scrambled eggs and bacon."

"I'm taking a shower before then," left my lips as I decided that the concept of eggs and bacon was more appealing than more sleep, tossing off the sheets as I swung my legs and stood. "Wanna join me?"

"...I honestly can't tell if you are joking or if you are being serious." Her monotone response gave me a good chuckle as I glanced over at her, noticing she was wearing the same clothing we fell asleep in.

"Whether I am joking or not, if you want to join me then you can. If you don't want to then I will understand." I gave her a wink and walked into the bathroom, not missing the blush on her face as I left.

Closing the door behind me, I stripped off my garments and casted them into a clothesbasket next to the door and turned on the warm water. It took a few seconds for the water to warm up to my liking but once it did I stepped in and reveled in the incredible sensation of warm water caressing my wanting skin. There were very few things, in my opinion, that could match a hot shower in the morning. The sound of a door opening reached my ears and made me smile in a welcoming matter, one of the few things that was better than a shower currently on the other side of the shower curtain. As the curtain was pulled open and the figure entered the shower with me, my mood instantly plummeted.

"While I am glad that you decided to join me for a warm soak, I thought I made my opinion on those pills pretty clear."

In front of me was the busty adult version of Kitty, otherwise known as Evangeline to the vast majority. God, that body was boring; it lost its appeal long before I came back in time and that most certainly hasn't changed now.

"What?" Evangeline looked at me with her lips pulled down and responded with a far away tone. "I don't think we talked about my pills aside from a passing comment from last night. You really don't like them?"

I could not help but pinch the bridge of my nose with that remark. "It is not the pills I dislike per say, its more what your body looks like after you take those pills. I am not saying you don't look good, if the reactions of your grunts are anything to go by, but it makes me uncomfortable and is such a far cry from what you really look like. It throws me for a loop." I attempted to convey my feelings about her adult form the best I could as I allowed her access to the water and stepped to the other side of the shower.

"So... you like my child form more than this form?" She grinned and pushed her bust up in a sexy manner. I rolled my eyes at the action, why does she act more mature and daring in this form? Pushing that thought out of my head, I was grateful that Kitty had managed to simplify my words because even I was confused by what I said.

"I love your true form. That form makes me feel like you are trying to compensate for something...cougar."

"What was that!?" My head ringing from the assault on my ears, I watched as magical energy started leaking out of the busty blond, growing thicker by the second. Needless to say, I washed myself as fast as I could before sprinting out of the bathroom.

* * *

"Phew, Kitty cannot take a joke." I murmured as I walked around the halls of the estate. When I left the shower and looked around the room I saw a yellow sticky note on one of the drawers on a dresser next to the bed. It was labeled as 'Touta's clothes'. Interested, I had opened the drawer to gaze at the contents. Now, I was wearing a white undershirt beneath in a solid black, button up, slim-fit Techni-Cole dress shirt with a flex collar and white wool dress pants. It was a little warm for the clothes but I looked damn good in them. Plus, a little magic can take care of something as insignificant as sweat. I walked with the air of a professional and, judging by how the grunts would take a single look at me and salute, I seemed like one. A few minutes of re-exploring the halls of Kitty's headquarters, I came across a familiar face.

"Oh? Hey Karin!"

Said girl, who had her back to me, turned to face the person who had called out to her. She was wearing a red maid outfit, something I had never seen on her before.

"Konoe Touta-sama. How are you doing today?"

"Not to bad, slept like a rock. How about yourself? Are you sore at all from yesterday?"

"Not at all. I too had a good sleep last night. I was just on my way to serve Yukihime-sama her morning tea. Would you care to join me? I have some questions to ask you."

 _Not like I just came from there or anything..._

"Sure, why not? I don't have anything to do for a few...months." _In my timeline I was in the underground for 6th months then got my first mission soon after. Maybe I could take a certain mission sooner than the timeline asks for..._

With that thought, I positioned myself alongside the user of Holy Light and began walking back to our room with a cart in tow. We didn't even make it halfway before Karin started voicing her concerns.

"Touta-sama...what is your relationship with Yukihime-sama?"

"Hmm...what do you think our relationship is?" I replied after folding my arms in front of my chest. I wanted to know what she knew before telling her more than what I needed to. Then again, with my kiss yesterday, I don't really think there is much debate about what we have. Karin also knew the answer to her own question if her beat red face and silence was anything to go by. I sighed, knowing that lying would do no good. "I am in an intimate relationship with Kitty. I have proposed to her and she has accepted. She is my fiancé."

SCREEEEEEE!

I looked over to see a crushed metal pole with a number of indentations where the girl's fingers were. I gave her a raised eyebrow and just stared incomprehensively at me.

"F-f-f-f-fiancé?" She all about screeched.

"Yes Karin, fiancé, try to keep up." I clicked my fingers together twice to get her attention back. "Now I have a question for you. Why are you adding the -sama suffix to my name?"

"Fiancé..." She muttered again. Karin all lost in thought with a beat red face would have been cute to watch if I wasn't annoyed that my question wasn't getting answered.

"Karin~" I waved my hand in front of her face to try to snap her out of it. "Anybody home~"

"Konoe Touta!" She suddenly yelled, looking at me with a fierce glare. "While I do not like the idea of anybody marrying Yukihime-sama, you had better treat her like a goddess! Anything less and I will find you and I will find a way to kill you!"

"Yeah, yeah." I waved her off, settling to find out the answer to my question later. "Pay attention. We are here." I pushed the door open and saw Kitty sitting in a chair looking out a window.

"Hey Kitty, I'm back." I announced my arrival and reached below the cart where a refrigerator unit was kept and pulled out a cherry coke can, popping it open with a fizzle.

"I am here to delivery your morning tea, Yukihime-sama." Karin also announced, giving me the stink eye for acting so casual in front of their leader. I shrugged it off, she is my fiancé in and out of this facility. I will damn will act as I so please in the presence of anyone thank you very much.

"Oh, thank you Karin. Bring it over here for me would you?" In accordance with her will, UQ Holder's number 4 faithfully maneuvered the cart towards the left of her lazyboy and began making the beverage. A minute of silence later and the drink was ready for consumption. Wordlessly, the servant placed the drink in Kitty's outstretched hand and stepped back.

"Ahh," she sighed after sipping the glass. "Karin, what would I do without your morning tea?" The girl in question took the compliment in silence, bowing in response to the gratitude. I watched the exchange as I leaned against the bathroom door, silently enjoying my own choice of liquid satisfaction. Once Kitty finished her tea, she handed her glass back to Karin and stood up, turned around, and froze. I raised an eyebrow as her gaze swept over me, swallowing in...was that anticipation?

"T-touta, I see you found the clothes I picked out for you." _Oh, so she is checking me out is she?_

"I didn't know that you grabbed some clothes for me as well when I asked for a pair of Karin's clothes yesterday." I gave her a knowing smile, one that seemed contagious since she also smiled soon after. She placed a hand on her hips and spoke again.

"Please, as if I would leave my fiancé with only one outfit."

"So you heard us?" I glanced over at Karin who seemed strangely composed since she was anything but when I brought it up.

"Kind of hard not to hear someone screech in your own hallway." _This_ got some emotion out of Karin, her face blistering red at the snark comment.

"As interesting as it would be to milk this for what its worth...I came here to see how Kuroumaru is doing in the underground."

"Kuroumaru? I sent him down there yesterday so I am sure he hasn't done much. I don't expect him coming out of there until 16 years have passed, roughly 8 if the both of you went down...okay maybe you can get it done in a single day mister so don't you give me that look!" She laughed as I folded my arms and gave her a mock pained expression.

"And don't you dare forget it! Now that you know I can clean the underground permanently, I'm not going to do that since it is good training for future recruits. Speaking of which, that reminds me of another reason why I am here."

""Another reason?"" Karin and Kitty asked simultaneously.

"That is right. I want a mission." I held up a hand to catch a hammer that was on a collusion path with my face.

"You idiot! You don't get to ask for missions! Missions are given to you based on the number of requests Yukihime-sama receives and whoever she deems appropriate to do them!"

"Karin, relax." Kitty sighed, sitting back down in her chair to get down to business. "What mission do you want, why do you want it, and how long will it take to complete?"

"It shouldn't take too long at all, less than a month guaranteed. Why I want it is because if I play my cards right, we can recruit another immortal for ... _you know what._ " Her eyes widened at how dark my tone was but I shook my head to suppress the memories and answered the last question. "As for what mission I want, I want the undercover investigation of a dangerous immortal at the private boarding school in Southwest Amano-Mihashira, Shin-Tokyo, Amano-Mihashira Academy City."

 _Santa...this time I will save you without the planet wide zombie apocalypse. Also, you will not be coming back alone. I couldn't do anything about it then...but this time...this time I will save Sayako Minase. Nothing like purifying a god class vengeful spirit hell-bent on world destruction to train for Ialda's arrival._


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hey guys! What is up! So I just found out that I have 2 2 page assignments due by 12:35 tomorrow and I have work from 7-10 AM and have class starting at 11. So I basically just ignored my homework to right this and am starting to cram that in tonight! RIP Sleep!**

 **Oh well, I hope you guys like this chapter! Make sure to favorite, follow, and most importantly review! I am checking fanfiction, like, 10 times daily if not more to read what people have to say about my work! Always ready to read an uplifting review!**

 **By the way, I feel like I may have rushed things later on in the chapter, trust me when I say you should be able to pick it out without me saying it so tell me if you noticed any rushing I may have done and let me know what you think!**

(Touta POV)

The atmosphere was tense. Yukihime was thinking, staring at me with those glaring baby blue eyes, the cogs in her mind turning. I just continued to lean against the door with the half empty cherry flavored Coca Cola. Karin, who was also staring at me from next to my fiancé's desk, wide eyed and mouth agape.

"You want the... undercover investigation mission?" The blond spoke slowly, as if she was trying to comprehend what was going on in my war-ravaged mind of mine.

"You large moron!" Karin exclaimed, neither of us honoring her outcry with a reaction. "Do you think you can handle that mission alone? I went at it alone years ago and even I couldn't find out what the murderer was, let alone who!"

Kitty sighed, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand, her elbow making a thud as it hit the wooden surface. "She isn't wrong Touta. Don't get us wrong, we both know how powerful you are. You managed to repel some of my magical attacks and beat the fourth strongest Number of UQ Holder in a fair fight, something that honestly should never have escalated to that level by the way." That poison laced comment was, obviously, directed at a certain red robed individual in the room. Karin at least had the honor to look ashamed and embarrassed.

"My-my apologies." She bowed at the waist in a perfect 90-degree angle. Kitty stared at the prostrated female for a few seconds before sighing once again. "Anyway, what we are trying to say is that power alone is not going to help us solve this mission. You understand what I am trying to say Touta?"

"Oh perfectly," I said, making Kitty raise her head out of her hand and Karin straighten herself in confusion, "and I had no intention of going in alone, nor did I plan on brute forcing my way through the mission. Do you have the list of suspects on you?"

"Y-yeah, give me a sec." The Dark Evangel reached down and the sound of wood sliding on wood could be heard as well as the shuffling of paper. The sliding sound came back shortly before a brief thunk.

"Here."

I took the laminated vanilla folder from the girl's grasp and looked inside. As I opened the smooth material, I realized that there were colorful rectangles held inside two separate pockets, one on each side. I grabbed the pile in the left pocket and began shuffling through the suspects, revealing a multitude of individuals of varying genders, skin colors, body shapes, and ethnicities. Not surprised in the slightest when I didn't see what I was looking for, I calmly and professionally filled the empty pocket from whence the pictures came and reached for the other pile, folding my left leg over my right. Supporting my weight on my right leg, I repeated the actions on this pile. After looking through five different suspects, I found a picture that surprised me.

It was a picture of Santa.

He was wearing the same blue and white colored dog-eared hoodie and matching sweatpants like when we first met him in my timeline. I pulled the picture out of the pile and placed the others pack in the folder.

"The murderer is not in your list of suspects." I handed the folder back into the ready arm of Yukihime, who looked as if she was starting to put together a puzzle I had set out in front of her.

"And you know this...how?"

"Because I fought the person responsible before. I know what she is, who she is, and how strong she is first hand." I responded to the question in a professional yet snobbish way. How else would I know this person!? 'Oh, by the way, I met this murdering psychopath on a blind date and we really hit it off. Our first date we murdered over 100 married people, fucked their spouses, and stole their kids'? Come on, I may be an immortal monster but I am still a good person!

"You did what!?" Karin exclaimed loud enough to hurt Yukihime's ears as well as my own. From her position by the desk, she briskly walked over to me and grabbed the collar of my new dress shirt. "You're telling me that, not only do you have the information our best spies couldn't find out, no matter how hard they tried, but you also engaged the target?"

"Pretty much." Was my nonchalant response, seeming to infuriate the Holy Light more so than she was before. She released my poor collar and turned her back to me, too angry to even face me apparently.

"So? How bad did you get your ass kicked?"

"At the time? Pretty bad." I replied honestly, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment as the memories of that time came back to me.

"Serves you right." She snapped briskly. For the duration of our meeting, I have been tolerating Karin's attitude and tried to remain calm as I bargained with Kitty to let me have this mission. If that red wearing rash of an ass wasn't here, I could simply tell Kitty the exact situation without all of this beating around the bush and I would have what I wanted by now. Can't use telepathy either since Karin would notice instantly and put more questions in her head and we can't have her suspecting stuff she doesn't need to know right now.

Just as I was about to remind Karin who won the last time she picked a fight with me, a cough cut through the heated atmosphere.

"If you two are done flirting," Evangeline intervened, voicing her displeasure with Karin's behavior, "I would like to find out specifics about the immortal that has been a thorn in our backside for quite a while now."

""Flirting?"" We shrilled. Before either of us could explain how much we didn't care for one another, Kitty gave us a chilling glare, immediately silencing us both.

I tiredly exhaled, deciding to get back at Karin for making my future wife mad at me later.

"The girl's name is Sayako Minase. She has long black hair and wears an old version of the Amano-Mihashira student uniform. When she was living, she was a student of the academy with a modest amount of talent for magic. However, she died 80 years ago due to unknown circumstances and became a ghost. But, by some twist of fate, instead of passing on, she became some kind of receptacle for all of the individuals who were driven to suicide over the years and any other vengeful spirits in that span of time."

"Wait, hold on a minute." Kitty held up a hand and pinched her nose in exasperation. "So, this Sayoko has been taking in the vengeful spirits of all of the suicide victims and more for the last 80 years?"

"Basically." Was my response, followed by a drink of Coke.

"...There have been 3000 deaths a year from suicide victims alone over the last century in that area, not mentioning the vengeful spirts that were born outside of suicide." Karin said lowly, thinking.

"That is correct Karin." I acknowledged. "Right now, she should have about 340,000 spirits tied to her existence." Kitty's eyes widened after hearing that bit of information. Karin, on the other hand, was starting to shake. It started subtly but is was growing more and more noticeable, violent even.

I took the lingering silence as a sign to continue. "I don't know if the spirits have anything to do with it, but when we fought, she told me that this person here," I set the picture of Santa on the desk for them to see, "was a spirit she raised from the dead. His name is Santa Sasaki and he is quite the object of affection for our bottle of raging spirits. He is a Revenant capable of going toe to toe with Sayoko. His memories have been altered and he has been allowed to act on his free will for the time being, fulfilling his role as a Revenant and haunting the current students of the academy."

"Are you... suggesting we use this boy to draw out the girl?" Kitty asked hesitantly, noticing what I was implying by stating their relationship.

"That's a rather generous way of putting it." I downed the last of my drink and opened the door behind me to throw it into the trash can. "But not that far off from what I had planned."

"How strong are they?" Karin suddenly asked, not even looking at me when she spoke. I took a deep breath to suppress the urge of beating her silly and answered her question.

"Sayako is a god-class vengeful spirit. She is a powerful necromancer and a vassal for hundreds of thousands of incredibly powerful, incredibly mad spirits. Because of this, her mentality is fragile at best. On the other hand, because of the impossible amount of spirits inside of her, she has reserves of magical energy that easily matches if not surpasses that of me and Kitty, maybe even more than ours combined. In addition, she can draw on the memories of all the spirits she has and use their spells as if they were her own. Aside from that, we have to worry about anything she may have learned while she was in control of her spirits."

"And this...Santa person? How strong is he?" Kitty reached out and tapped on the picture in front of her.

"Santa is a powerful Revenant, the strongest I have ever seen or heard of. He is not very good at magic like Sayoko is. Instead, he uses telekinesis that is capable of moving multiple objects weighing over several tons, can fly without the use of magic, has intangibility, possesses humans and immortals alike, assimilates anything with access to the internet and can gain access to classified files with ease this way. I don't know what to put him at, but I know for a fact that he is just as strong as Sayoko and perhaps even more dangerous. He is, not only sane, but constantly gathering information from the internet. I would not be surprised if he already knows about me and Kuromaru and we have only been here a day or so."

"So basically," Kitty intervened, "we have a necromancer that has a library of magic spells at her beck and call with an ocean of magical energy to use said spells and a smart Revenant that may be as strong as a god class spirit."

I nodded, affirming the situation.

Yukihime intertwined her fingers and stared at the desk with a blank expression, thinking. Ignoring the heavy atmosphere that I caused from revealing the information of the immortals that needed to be taken care of, I walked over to the metal cart and reached into the refrigerator unit and grabbed another Cherry Cola. I popped it open and enjoyed the sensation of the tasty liquid, waiting for one of the two girls to say something. Karin just stared at the floor uselessly, most likely lamenting her not being capable of finding this information out when she was entrusted with this mission. Knowing her, she is probably thinking that if she had a second chance, she might have been able to do something back when they were weaker.

I walked over to her and placed my arm on her shoulder, pulling her into me for a one-sided hug. She did not resist. She didn't even acknowledge that I had even touched her, let alone currently holding her.

"I know what you are thinking." It wasn't hard to sound empathetic; I knew from personal experience what she was feeling right now: regret, powerlessness, and sorrow. "You can't go back and change the past. The only thing that you can do now is look towards tomorrow and do what you can now. Don't let other people end up as these two did."

 _Me telling her she can't change the past when that is what I am doing right now...god I feel weird._

"You said you were not going to handle this mission alone?" Kitty finally spoke, staring me dead in the eye. Something about the tone of her voice told me that this wasn't a question. She was going to make sure I had a team if I said anything different.

"I want Karin to accompany me on this mission. She has been to the academy before so she has knowledge of the area that I don't. Her combat prowess is nothing to laugh at either. She will be useful on this mission." Karin looked up at me for the first time in a while in surprise.

Kitty nodded in agreement. "I can permit that. Do you have anyone else in mind?"

"I want Kirie Sakurame on this mission too. Her Rewind ability will come in handy should anything go wrong."

"She is currently on a mission right now...but given the newfound severity of this mission... I will order her to return to partake in the mission. I will assure that she is briefed on Sayoko Minase and Santa Sasaki before she returns."

Kitty seemed to be a little against Kirie being a part of this mission. Was she trying to anticipate if she was absolutely necessary for this mission?

I finished drinking my second can of pop and threw it into the bathroom trash. Kitty extended the arm that help her tea cup and Karin gently unwrapped herself from my appendage that wrapped across her shoulder and took it without discussion, preparing another cup of tea.

"So that makes you, Karin, and Kerie for this mission." Kitty turned on the heel of her toe and looked out of the window that sat behind her desk, walking towards the glass structure. "Don't you think another person should be in this party? That would allow us the benefit of forcing a two versus one on the both of them."

"I don't think that would be too much of an advantage for us." I voiced my concern for having additional members. "The only reason I want Kerie on this team is in the event something happens and a reset is an absolute necessity. Karin's Holy Light counters intangible beings to a point where it isn't even funny and I have a few trump cards of my own should the need arise. Additionally, we are infiltrating a private magic academy. We are already pushing it trying to infiltrate with three people, making the party any larger will only draw suspicion among the other students and we can't afford to get them involved."

While I provided my explanation, Karin had finished the tea and presented it to her leader who took it graciously. She held the glass in her right hand and had her left resting against her hips, tapping her fore finger restlessly on the cloth. She must want to be on the party with us to make sure nothing bad happened. Honestly, I kind of wanted her on the team too but, like I just said, the group was already too big for an infiltration and one more would just be flat suspicious.

"Alright." She spoke with finality. "I approve of this mission. You, Karin, and Kerie are to invade Amano-Mihashira Academy and recruit one Sayoko Minase and Santa Sasaki. If you fail in doing so then you are to eliminate them. Are the parameters clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Number 4 bowed her head in acknowledgement of her orders. I merely remained silent, popping a third can of pop open and sipping the liquid that bubbled out on top of the aluminum.

"Karin, you are dismissed. Touta, if you would stay." Yukihime gave out her instructions and sat down on the red Lazy Boy. The black-haired girl immediately began to withdraw from the room with beverage cart in tow, stopping to momentarily gaze at me with curiosity and... gratitude?

Once the door shut with a soft thud, I walked forward and got behind the chair Kitty was in, rubbing her head with my free hand.

"As much as I want you to come along with this mission, it just can't happen. Not on this one anyway."

"Mmm," Kitty moaned in appreciation and disappointment, "doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

Her response made me chuckle a little. " No, no it does not." Silence filled the room after my statement, not an eerie silence, but a comforting one. Kitty was rather satisfied with my fingers rummaging around her hair as I sipped the soda in silence, starting to really enjoy the cherry flavor. Not even mentioning how enjoyable it was to feel the silk-like sensation in-between my fingers, how could spending some quiet time relaxing with my fiancé not be satisfying?

"So, what do you plan on doing now?" Was her first question after minutes of head scratching. Her question made me ponder my next course of action, not having thought about it.

"I plan on leaving for the mission in a week's time. Perhaps I could gather a few items that would supplement the team. Maybe invest in some armor, see about getting Karin a better hammer, finding a method of ensuring Kerie's safety, etc. Maybe if your good, I might bring you back a little something~" I leaned forward and whispered the last statement into her sensitive ears, making her shiver from the sensation.

"I-I'll look forward to it."

"You have to be good to get it though." I playfully warned her, poking her cheek in a teasing manner.

"Define good."

"Oh? Is someone actually planning on being naughty?" I could almost see the devilish smirk on her face when I asked.

"What ever could you mean? I have absolutely no intention of having Jinbei tortur-I mean train Kuroumaru until he wishes he wasn't an immortal."

Her response actually made me stop playing with her hair in shock. _Kuroumaru training directly under Jinbei, arguable the strongest immortal in UQ Holder? He could become leagues stronger than what he was in my timeline!_

"Make sure you train him hard Kitty." I encouraged her to have Jinbei give it his all. "He did see us after all."

"Exactly what I was thinking." She sounded so happy that I was agreeing with her and from her standpoint, she should be. She was, not only seen by a boy she just met in nothing but a towel in her true form, but he had also interrupted our intimacy. It really was his fault for deciding to check on me. Or was it my fault for going up the cliff in the first place?

"Hey, Kitty?" I crushed the can in my hand and cast some magic on it, throwing it where I knew the bathroom trash can was, watching as the can went through the wall and landing in my desired location. With both hands free now, I wrapped my arms around her and lowered my chin so it rested on the top of her head, placing my arms just above her bust but below her collarbone. "Do you know where I can get some armor? Like, really high-quality armor?"

A moment of silence fell as the girl in my appendages considered my inquiry. "It would depend on what you want. If you want something light and more suited for magic defense, I would consider talking to the elves. I believe they have a few villages in the Amazon rainforest and the Ecuador cloud forest. If you want something a little heavier and meant for physical combat, I would talk to the dwarfs somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains of Europe. You could also talk to the Orcs there, the two races are always fighting for the mountain's resources after all. The Angels make good equipment that counters dark magic and demon folk just as the demons make suits of armor and weapons that are famous for eating light and anything holy. I don't know of any race that can make armor specializing in blocking both physical and magical attacks. If you want to go down that path I would suggest getting some armor from the orcs or dwarves and have the elves enchant the armor with some magic nullification spells. Although, that is as unlikely as an elf that eats meat The elves hate the two species with a vengence."

 _That quite a bit of information to take in,_ I thought as I began to weigh my options. I needed to think more on this before coming to a decision.

"Thanks Kitty. You're the best." I gave her hair a ruffle before moving towards the exit. As I opened the door and began to walk out, I heard my fiancé say something.

"If only the dragons still existed..."

 _…dragons huh?_

With that thought, I shut the door.

"What did you discuss with Yukihime-sama?"

I looked up to see Karin had changed out of her maid outfit and was now wearing her standard clothes. She leaned against the back of the wall with her arms crossed under her bust and had her eyes closed.

"She wanted to come on the mission with us. She believed if she was the 4th member, we could fight them in a 2v1 scenario if the need were to arise. I convinced her that she needed to stay here. I also asked her where I can find some decent armor. I think I am going to be needing it in the upcoming fight."

Karin nodded, falling alongside me as I walked down the hall. "If you believe that you need this armor for our fight against Santa and Sayoko then I will not stop you."

 _It isn't the fight with those two I need it for though…_

"Karin," I asked as we rounded a corner and were not leaving the building grounds. "Can you tell me what the biggest library on the planet is and where it is from here?"

Karin donned a thoughtful expression as she held up her thumb and forefinger to hold her chin in thought. "I believe the largest library on the planet is the British Library in the United Kingdom. There is one in London…and Boston Spa if I am not mistaken."

"I'll try London then." We were walking on wood now. We had walked far enough from the building that we were walking on a dock for UQ Holder's boats and naval creatures like the mermaids and various other sea folk.

"Are you actually planning on going to the British Library?" She asked incredulously, voicing her amazement at the aspect. "What do you plan on doing once you get there?"

"Research. There is a species of magical creatures I was lead to believe still existed but was now told otherwise. I'm going to find out if they are or not."

"And if they are?" She crossed her arms under her bust and frowned, trying to figure my purpose for proving this person wrong.

"Then I want them to make me some armor." I told her, bending my knees and tensing my muscles. Just as I was about to start running, however; my collar constricted on my throat, making me hack and cough and reel back, falling down as I did so.

"You honestly expect me to just let you go without a form of escort?" She asked, glaring down at me. "UQ Holder can't have you running about in what possibly could be dangerous territory without at least some backup."

"*cough cough* Could you have just*cough* asked if you could come? *cough cough*"

I got no verbal response, receiving a shaking head as an answer.

"Ugg, at the very least don't pull my collar. I just got this from Kitty herself mind you." I sighed as I scratched my throat and tested my vocals.

"I will do well to remember that. By the way, I have already made Yukihime-sama aware of the situation and that I will be accompanying you."

"What? How? You have been with me the entire… I am really starting to dislike telepathy."

"Really?" Karin chuckled at my annoyance. "I think it is a really useful tool to exchange information with one another."

"Yeah, you would think that." I grumbled. "Anyway, are we going now? I would like to be there by noonish. That is, if you aren't going to grab my collar again."

With that said, we shot off across the water in search of the information I seek.

* * *

"So…" The black-haired girl asked, currently treading behind me as I navigated us through the lush green terrain. "You take one look at a single book back in London and all of a sudden we are wandering though the forests of god knows where!?"

I sighed, this girl just would not shut up sometimes. We have only been here for five minutes! "If you must know, we are in the Amazon rainforest, far away from any elven territory. Probably near the center of the forest. What the-?"

I felt a strange sensation on my leg. I looked down to see that a snake had tried to bite me, breaking its fangs in the process and slithering away in pain. _Should have thought about that first before biting me buddy._

"What are we even supposed to be looking for?" She asked as her skirt got caught in a twig.

As I took in my surroundings for the umpteenth time, I could not help but admire the beautiful colors on the grass, the trees, the overhanging leaves, the vines, even the water. Everything had an exotic, healthier color to it. Compared to London, with its looming buildings, evident history, booming city life, and its own version of beauty, this was what the world looked like before it was touched by technology. It really was an amazing sight to take in.

But now was not a time to be enjoying the landscape. By the time Karin and I left this morning, it was around noon when we hit London. After arriving, we beelined for the nearest library and it didn't take long for me to find the book I was looking for. The cover of the book itself was nothing special, just a monochrome burgundy exterior with no title displayed. After looking inside, I found out its title was _Creatures with Scales._ It was a fantastical tale of how a female dragon fell in love with a human, despite the species barrier and went off into the sunset happily ever after, however; their love came at a great cost.

The boy abandoned his humanity and conducted an ancient, forbidden ritual that offered his body to the dragon goddess Tefnuit. In exchange, the man was given the form of a draconic being, becoming a the first ever wyvern. While a dragon and human relationship was seen as impossible, a relationship between a dragon and a dragon wannabe was viewed as intolerable. The two went to war against the female dragon's family and forced them to submit, acknowledging their love.

In order to avoid the wrath of the rest of the village, they fled to an unknown land and were deemed outcasts and traitors by the rest of the village. Nothing was heard about the two of them since.

However, the village's location on the other hand, was. According to the book, the dragon villae was somewhere in the center of the Amazon Rainforest, whence why we are here.

"Let's stop and set up camp here. We have been running for hundreds if not thousands of miles and have been on our feet all day. Let's rest and we can resume our search tomorrow."

She agreed almost instantaneously, starting to punch a hole into the ground with an eagerness in her fists I haven't seen her use unless exercising Kitty's will. We had already been gathering food as we saw it while walking through the forest. Upon my reccommendation, we stored them in one of Karin's storage box apps. I asked her to open it for me and a punch of food started falling from a series of magic circles just above my head. What fell was a variety of wild fruits and assorted edible greens.

" _Create Rock."_ I pointed my outstretched hand at the ground a few feet from me and watched as 6 mounds of soil began to rise and form a semi-spherical shape, making a circle of rocks for a campfire.

 _"Gentle Breeze."_ With a twirl of my fingers, I bent the still air to my will and willed it to rise, forming an updraft. As I did so, I could feel my hair begin to float and my clothes rustle at the newly generated updraft.

"Touta-sama! What are you doing!?" A screech hit my sensitive ears. Yelping at the sudden pain, I turned to see what I could have done to warrant such a shocked and embarrassing voice from Karin. As I looked in the direction of the voice, I could not help but notice the cloth that was billowing upward from the spell I recently cast, Karin's hands holding down her skirt as her face became the same blistering red as her clothes.

"Sorry, sorry." I waved my hand in an uncaring manner but had the decency to blush.

 _Is there a singl item of clothing of hers that isn't red?_

I looked around in search of any wood or sticks that could serve as kindling, hoping the updraft would make some float in the air. My hopes were answered as I took in the sight of a variety of small twigs and bark at eye level. I beckoned with my finger and the winds changed directions, going from up to being directed at the center of the six rocks I made. The breeze was enjoyable against my skin, I couldn't help but moan pleasantly at the sensation.

 _"Ignite."_ The gathered wood burst into flame with a crackle and a pop, the smell of burning wood filling my nostrils. Deciding I had better grab some larger pieces of wood, I walked over to a barren tree with no leaves on it. Seeing that it was all drained of life, I grabbed it and pulled it from the ground, making sure I didn't snap it in the process. The ground upturned as the roots desperately tried to hold on to the soil, failing miserably. With that taken care off, I walked back over to the fire and started breaking pieces of the dead tree and placing them into the small inferno.

"Hey, Karin, how is the hole coming along?' I called. My cry was met with no response. "Karin?" I walked over to the hole she made about ten feet or so from the fire pit. It was a decent size, about six feet wide and roughly twenty feet deep. If anything dared to jump down there, it was our food. If not, we got a peaceful sleep. Looking up at the sky, I saw not a spot of white or grew in the vast blue expanse above us.

 _Looks like we won't need to worry about rain…but just in case. This is a rainforest after all._

With that thought going through my head, I cast a couple of spells that will prevent any water from falling into the hole, seeping into the hole, or any form of water from being within the hole period. I also cast a few anti-insect and anti-snake spells so we wouldn't wake up covered in head to toe in annoying buzzers or hissers.

"You called?" Hearing the voice of Number 4, I turned to see said girl was covered in dirt, her red clothes looking more burgundy than anything else. There was also a big brown and red object on her shoulder.

"You went hunting?" I inquired.

She nodded with a pleased smile, placing the carcass onto the ground next to the growing fire. "A jaguar should be enough for the both of us."

"Touta-sama?"

grrrr* A deep and rumbling sound came from my stomach as I stared longingly at the animal. Its scent was so…intoxicating. I walked over to it and knelt down near a red patch of fur.

Karin noticed my behavior and walked up from behind me. "I tried to break its neck and give it a painless death but it noticed me and tried to run. So, I had to stab it in the heart. It didn't cry out or anything so I assume it died a painless death all the same."

I wasn't paying attention to her words, I was too focused on the stab wound next to its front left leg. My tongue left my mouth and wetted my lips, my throat getting dry.

"Touta-sama?"

My entire body was going cold, it felt like I was getting hit by one of Kitty's strongest ice spells. My hair was standing on end as goosebumps began to pepper my body. My vision was growing faint...

"Touta!?"

Something caught me. I fell. I could feel myself falling and knew that Karin caught me...but how did I fall? I lost my balance? Impossible! I just felt a little dizzy and cold and...in pain? My stomach was burning, it was so cold it burned, my insides felt like they were melting. It hurt so much! How long had it been hurting like this?

I clawed at my desert of a throat, my freezing inferno of a stomach, my tongue the texture of sandpaper. I couldn't breath. My vision grew worse by the moment. What was happening to me? I slammed my eyes shut and clenched my muscles to try to keep from yelling but it was to no avail. A wretched roar lept from my mouth, echoing off of the trees and spreading throughout the entire forest, scaring plant and meat eater both.

"Touta! Touta, calm down! What are you doing!? What is wrong? Tell me so I can help you!"

 _She is worried_ , I thought. Her voice was higher than usual, begging me to tell her what she can do to appease my evident agony. Agony it was, I felt like I was in the center of the deepest layer of hell, right next to Lucifer himself while at the same time freezing in the vaccum of space.

But why am I in so much pain? The only thing I did was run around the planet and walk around a forest. The snake? No, a snake would never be able to pierce a vampire's skin.

 _Vampire's..._

 _The animal blood!_

To a human, all blood smells the same. This is not true for a vampire! We can smell the nutrients in blood: how much calcium, vitamins, minerals, drugs, all of it! In my currently crazed state, I couldn't distinguish the individual scents inside the blood, just that it smelled so absolutely divine! I needed whatever was in that animal's blood!

But why I have never felt this pain before? I always made sure to drink out of a blood bag back in my timeline! I haven't had any blood since I came to _this_ timeline! So why am I only feeling this now!?

Something clicked in the back if my mind.

The slop!

The slop I ate at Dana's place! Its wasn't slop at all! It was liquid nutrients mixed with Dana's blood! That is why I haven't felt this pain before, Dana fed me her blood to prevent this from happening! And now that I haven't had blood on my regular intervals, I was in withdrawl! The trigger? The jaguar's blood!

But why was the animal's blood the trigger and not the blood when I killed that mercenary?

Because it wasn't Dana's blood.

A vampire noble's blood is thicker and much more satisfying to the taste. It also takes longer to digest meaning that the blood I last had has been fully digested for a while now and my body was _demanding_ more!

"I want it..." My voice scratched its way out of my barren throat.

"Want?" Someone asked, confused but desparate. "Tell me what you want! Tell me and I will do it! Anything to help you!"

 _Anything..? No...no No NO! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING! I WANT BLOOOD!_

"I need it...give it to me..."

It hurts. It hurts so much. It hurt so much to speak that I could feel something wet on my cheeks.

"You idiot! Snap out of it! Please!" I could feel my body moving back and forth without my brain telling my body to do so, a desparate sound reaching my ears. "Don't lie on the ground and cry! Tell me what to give you! What can I give you to help you?"

 _Blood! Blood! I MUST HAVE BLOOD! I DONT CARE WHERE I GET IT FROM ANYMORE! **JUST GIVE IT TO ME!**_

I opened my eyes to shout out my desire only to cease the action in...breathless awe.

There it was. It was right in front of me the entire time. That luscious red color...the smooth skin that begged me to taste it...the way the skin rose ever so slightly as liquid heaven flowed through its veins, beckoning to me more than that four legged animal ever could!

 **"BLOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD!"**

In a single, swift motion, my body rose from the ground, yanked this creature's neck to the side, ripped at the annoying substance that hid what I desired...

...and bit into its neck!


	8. Ranger McAleer and to all other readers!

**This fanfiction has been updated correctly and the new content IS here. Chapter 8 (what you are reading now) is an author's note that I release letting everyone know that the newest chapter of the fanfiction HAS BEEN RELEASED!!! The authors note was previously chapter 7. SWIPE THIS PAGE TOWARDS THE RIGHT (in the direction of the previous chapter or whatever you call it) TO VIEW THE NEW CONTENT!!!**

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